India strikes Lahore base in retaliation to cross-border attacks by Pakistan: Reports
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force has carried out fresh strikes on Pakistan's Lahore military base, hours after its air defence systems were reportedly crippled in an earlier counteroffensive. The operation was undertaken in response to a series of coordinated drone and missile attacks launched by Pakistan on Indian military installations in Jammu, Pathankot, and Jaisalmer.
As per an India Today report, sources within the Indian security establishment confirmed that the retaliation was strategically executed, capitalising on the weakened state of Pakistan’s air defence. Earlier in the day, India’s S-400 “Sudarshan Chakra” air defence system intercepted and neutralised several incoming drones and missiles.
As per an India Today report, Pakistan’s Chinese-origin HQ-9 missile defence systems stationed in Lahore were initially targeted by Israeli-manufactured HARPY kamikaze drones, severely impairing their operational capacity. Despite these damages, Pakistan proceeded to launch further attacks on Indian bases in Jammu, Pathankot, and Udhampur.
In response, India struck the already-damaged Lahore base and reportedly shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet, two JF-17 aircraft, and an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft within Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The Pakistani offensive extended to military targets in Awantipora, Srinagar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Bhuj. Indian defence systems successfully intercepted several projectiles, including two kamikaze drones in Poonch.
India has not yet issued an official statement.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
