Guwahati, Sep 5 : Many passengers on board a boat were reported missing on Wednesday after it capsized in the Brahmaputra river in Assam.

The Kamrup Metro district administration confirmed the incident but could not say if anyone had died. A search operation was on.

Witnesses said they saw several passengers from the ferry trying to swim to the shore.

According to one account, there were about 60 people on the boat including some children and women. The vessel was also transporting some motorcycles.

The boat was on its way to Madhyam Khanda in North Guwahati from Guwahati. The Brahmaputra is in spate due to monsoon rains in the upper reaches of Arunachal Pradesh.

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New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft, sources in the defence establishment said on Tuesday.

The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border.

India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise, the sources said.

In the course of the exercise, the IAF will simulate enemy targets on ground and in the air with deadly precision, they said.

The militaries of both India and Pakistan are on a high alert following rising tensions between the two nations.

Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India, citing "cross-border linkages" to the strike, promised severe punishment to those involved in it.

In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the terror attack.

Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the Chief of Air Staff briefed him about the IAF's operational readiness.

On Saturday, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.