A highly placed Indian official has confirmed to The Australia Today that there was an attempt by Pakistan to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar which was thwarted by India.
India also successfully thwarted Pakistani missile and drone attacks targeting key military installations across its Northern and Western borders, including at Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.
In a calibrated response, Indian forces neutralised Pakistani air defence system in Lahore.
Accroding to reports at least two of the artillery rockets (and possibly some of the drones) intercepted last night (7-8 May 2025) were on a trajectory to hit the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
An official statement from the Indian Ministry of Defence read:
“During the Press Briefing on Operation SINDOOR on 07 May 2025, India had called its response as focused, measured and non-escalatory. It was specifically mentioned that Pakistani military establishments had not been targeted. It was also reiterated that any attack on military targets in India will invite a suitable response.”
“On the night of 07-08 May 2025, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks.”
The Ministry further stated,
“Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised.
Pakistan has increased the intensity of its unprovoked firing across the Line of Control using Mortars and heavy calibre Artillery in areas in Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar and Rajouri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sixteen innocent lives have been lost, including three women and five children, due to Pakistani firing. Here too, India was compelled to respond to bring Mortar and Artillery fire from Pakistan to a halt.
Indian Armed Forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is respected by the Pakistani military.”
Earlier fifteen civilians were killed and 43 wounded after intense artillery fire by the Pakistan Army struck border villages in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian authorities said on Wednesday. Residential areas bore the brunt of the shelling, which shattered windows, cracked walls and reduced sections of homes to rubble, sending panicked families fleeing for safety.
Local Sikh leaders decried the deliberate targeting of the Central Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib in Poonch, where three worshippers lost their lives.
The civilian toll followed India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, after the horrific Pehelgam terror attacks on 22nd April 2025.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri reiterated that India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack was “measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible,” aimed solely at dismantling terrorist infrastructure.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh told reporters that in Operation Sindoor, “nine terrorist camps were targeted and successfully destroyed,” emphasising that locations were chosen to protect civilian lives and property. Colonel Sofiya Qureshi showed footage of destroyed camps, including training grounds linked to militant groups.
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