visakhapatnam l saturday l may 10, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Donald Trump wants quick de-escalation: White House US President Donald Trump wants to see the conflict between India and Pakistan de-escalate as quickly as possible, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said NSA and Secy of state Marco Rubio involved in it Turkish heartless pakistan military put civilian fliers in harm’s way fingerprint seen in downed On May 7, the day India took out Pak’s terror infra, the neighbour did not close its civil airspace while trying to attack Indian installations with drones and missiles. Else, it knew the strikes would draw a swift Indian response. In effect, it used its civil airliners as a shield. The defence ministry shared screenshots of flight movement on the website flightradar24 to prove its point (see map) drones Drone of war deafens border again on Day 2 Three injured in Punjab as debris falls on house; bid to attack Srinagar, Jammu airports foiled; air defence systems take out most of the projectiles fired from across the border PoK china DAY 3 FAYA Z W A N I , H A RPR E E T B A J W A , Raje s h A s nan i & M ayank S i ngh @ Srinagar / Chandigarh/ Jaipur / New Delhi DashING hopes of an immediate de-escalation in tensions, Pakistan on Friday launched another wave of drone attacks targeting key Indian locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Rajasthan. The drones specifically targeted army bases in Srinagar and Awantipora and the Jammu airport, which also houses the Indian Air Force station. Multiple explosions were heard near Srinagar airport as the air defence systems engaged the drones. “Drones have been sighted at 26 locations ranging from the Baramulla in the North to Bhuj in the South, along both the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan. These include suspected armed drones posing potential threats to civilian and military targets,” the Army said in a statement. The locations include Baramulla, Srinagar, Avantipora, Nagrota, Jammu, Ferozpur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Kuarbet and Lakhi Nala, it added. Indian defence systems intercepted and neutralised all drones. However, in Punjab, a Baramulla Srinagar Avantipura Nagrota Jammu Pathankot Ferozpur Fazilka Pakistan Lalgarh Jatta Jaisalmer INDIA Barmer Bhuj Map not to scale View of the blackout enforced in Amritsar city in Punjab on Friday | PTI drone exploded as it was being neutralised and fell on a house, causing burn injuries to three persons. The condition of one person is said to be serious. “There was heavy drone attack at Khai Pheme Ki village near Ferozepur. One of the drones that was neutralised fell down like a ball of fire on to a house, injuring three. One lady who was cooking suffered extensive burn injuries. A CNG car parked outside the house caused a blast and the house caught fire,” an official told this newspaper. Sources said the village is situated close to the Army cantonment, which may have been the original target. In Jammu and Kashmir, red streaks were seen and several loud explosions heard in Jammu city and its adjoining areas as the air defence systems neutralised the kamikaze drones launched from across the border. Sirens were sounded and there was a complete blackout in Jammu in the evening. The authorities also snapped electricity to major parts of the region to enforce the blackout. There were no immediate reports of any casualty or damage in the drone attack in Jammu and Kashmir. In Rajasthan, blackouts were enforced in Jaisalmer, Barmer and Sri Ganganagar districts, and residents were urged to stay indoors. Some of the cities targeted on Friday Don’t panic, stay indoors, says Army Citizens, especially those in border areas, must stay indoors, limit unnecessary movement, and follow safety instructions issued by local authorities, the army said in an advisory. While there is no need for panic, heightened vigilance and precaution are essential, it added. “Indian Armed Forces are maintaining a high state of alert, and all such aerial threats are being tracked and engaged using counter-drone systems. The situation is under constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary,” it said PM meets defence brass amid fresh Pak escalation R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R an d M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi Amid fresh escalations from Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a crucial high-level meeting with the chiefs of all three armed services—Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh were also express read SIT notices to three more in liquor scam Vijayawada: The sleuths of SIT on Friday carried out searches in the houses and other places of K Dhanunjaya Reddy (former secretary to former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy), K Krishna Mohan Reddy and Balaji Govindappa in the alleged liquor scam and served notices to them | P4 Karnataka cabinet defers caste census Bengaluru: The Karnataka state cabinet once again deferred discussion of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (SES-2015) or caste census, on Friday. Law Minister HK Patil said survey reports were given to ministers at the cabinet meeting held on April 17. there at the meeting held at the PM’s residence on Friday evening. The meeting came in the backdrop of Pakistan’s attempts to launch drone and missile strikes in Jammu, Punjab and other parts of the country on Thursday night. During the meeting that lasted more than an hour, Modi commended the success of the armed forces in repelling Pakistan’s provocations, it is learnt. “Full details were shared with the PM who in turn asked the service chiefs to do the needful to teach a lesson to the enemies,” a source said. Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh had held a detailed meeting with the three service chiefs to take stock of the evolving situation and a comprehensive national security assessment. Before his meeting with the three service chiefs, Prime Minister Modi met armed forces veterans at his residence. “There was an extensive inter- Naidu hails ‘decisive’ Modi in fight against terrorism E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Anantapur Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday reaffirmed that terrorism has no place in a democratic society . Addressing a meeting after inspecting the works of Handri-Neeva Srujala Sravanthi project at Chayapuram village in Uravakonda mandal of Anantapur district here, Naidu condemned the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, where innocent tourists were brutally killed, and underscored PM Narendra Modi’s determined response through Operation Sindoor. Naidu recalled his remarks during the relaunch of the Amaravati capital city works recently where he had expressed confidence in Modi’s commitment to national security . “Even then, I had said that Prime Minister Modi would not only speak of protecting the nation but act decisively, which he has proven with Operation Sindoor,” the Chief P7 Minister said. action with ex-servicemen who have experience in handling such situations in the past. PM Modi carefully listened to their suggestions,” a source said, adding that the veterans included former chiefs of Air Force, Army and Navy . According to sources, NSA Ajit Doval stayed back after the meeting with the service chiefs was over, to have a one-on-one with Modi. Later, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reached the PM’s residence to brief him about the diplomatic measures taken to deal with the India-Pakistan tension. Whopping 400 UAV incursions in one long night M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi Operational details shared by the government on Friday showed the massive scale of Pakistan’s incursion the previous night, as it deployed 300-400 drones across 36 locations from Leh in the North to the Sir Creek region in Gujarat. While the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) attempted to target the military infrastructure, Indian forces neutralised many of them using kinetic (blowing them away) and nonkinetic (jamming) means, a defence ministry spokesperson said. An armed drone strike on Bhatinda in Punjab was also thwarted. India retaliated by launching drone strikes on four Pakistani air defence sites, destroying a radar. Apart from the aerial attacks, Pakistan resorted to heavy artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in Indian Army casualties. India gave a fitting response, the government shared. In an official briefing, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said that Pakistan’s shelling using heavy-calibre artillery guns and armed drones caused some losses and injuries to Indian Army personnel. Besides, Pakistan showed scant respect for civilians as it kept its civil airspace open dur- Possibly meant to test defence systems The possible purpose of such large-scale aerial intrusions was to test air defence systems and collect intelligence. Forensic investigation of the wreckage of the drones is being done. Initial reports suggest that they are Turkish Asisguard Songar drones ing its counter-assault on May 7, the day India took out the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, said the spokesperson. Pakistan apparently used the civilian fliers as a shield to ward off India’s fierce response. The officer caustically said, “Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights which were flying near the International Border between India and Pakistan.” Sharing a screenshot of flight movement on the website flightradar24, the officer underscored that the IAF demonstrated considerable restraint in its response, ensuring safety of the international flights. BCCI suspends IPL games for a week g o me s h s @ Chennai WITH military operations escalating in the India and Pakistan border, the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended for one week. The BCCI made the decision public after a meeting with all stakeholders including the franchises on Friday morning. “Further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in consultation with relevant authorities and stakeholders,” the BCCI said in a statement. This looked inevitable after the match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings was called off midway because of security reasons. With conflict between the two neighbours escalating and some of the matches to be held in Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur, BCCI was left with little choice. The Punjab and Delhi teams were brought to New Delhi on a special Vande Bharat train from Jalandhar while the other franchises have returned to their bases with the players either going home both in India and overseas. Meanwhile, the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic, which was scheduled to be held on May 24 in Bengaluru, was postponed as well. During the intervening night of May 8 and 9, Pakistan carried out strikes using 300-400 drones against India at 36 locations along the western borders from Leh in the north to Sir Creek in Gujarat Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said preliminary examination of downed drones showed they were Turkey’s Asisguard Songars 1 The Songar has five variants, including a noncombat one. Can be used “effectively in any kind of day/ night military and security operations”. It has a range of about 10 km, with a load carrying capacity of 45 kg, an option for asymmetric threats 2 Developed by Asisguard, an Ankara-based firm, Songar is a low-altitude, quadrotor, UAV that was developed for the Turkish armed forces. Has been in use since 2020 for battlefield operations as well as internal security duties 3 SONGAR has an autonomous take-off and landing capability. It is integrated with a machine gun and grenade launcher. With the capability of real-time image transmission, it can detect target area, neutralise threat and damage detection 4 Pakistan’s drone inventory includes those made by China (CH-4) and Turkey (Bayraktar Akinci). Pakistan also has its own drones and loitering ammunitions 5 9 kg Payload 25 Min Max. flight time Turkey’s Asisguard Sonagar India abstains from imf vote on loan to pakistan India abstained from the IMF vote on Pakistan’s loan programmes on Friday, stating its concerns over its funds being misused for state sponsored crossborder terrorism. “Rewarding continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism sends a dangerous message to the global community, exposes funding agencies and donors to reputational risks, and makes a mockery of global values,” India said. The IMF took note of the abstention AP’s Army Jawan Murali Naik killed in Pak shelling E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Anantapur A pall of grief descended over Pudagundlapalli Thanda in Gorantla mandal, Sri Satya Sai district, as news broke that Mood Murali Naik, a brave soldier of the Indian Army, had been martyred in the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan. The 23-year-old Murali Naik, who joined the Army in December 2022, served under Army No: A3451489H in the AV (OPR) trade. Hailing from a humble background, Murali was the son of M Jyothibai and M Sreeram Naik, both daily wage earners in the remote tribal hamlet. His sacrifice has brought both immense pride and profound sorrow to his village. Minister S Savitha consoles family members of Armyman M Murali Naik, who died in Pak shelling in J&K, at Kalli Thanda of Sri Sathya Sai District on Friday | Express Upon receiving the tragic news, Minister S Savitha personally visited the bereaved family to offer condolences. On behalf of the state government, she ex- tended immediate financial assistance of `5 lakh to the family . Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to Murali’s parents over the phone. Expressing deep sorrow and solidarity he assured them that the , state government would stand firmly by their side. “The entire country is proud of Murali’s courage. The government will support you in every possible way,” he said. “Do not lose heart, the government and people of Andhra Pradesh are with you,” the Chief Minister added, promising further assistance and longterm support. As a tribute to the fallen hero, Minister S Savitha announced that a statue of Murali Naik would be installed at the main circle in Gorantla, ensuring that his sacrifice will be remembered for generations to come. Preparations for the installation are already underP7 way  .