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Rubina Begum stands outside her house damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling in Salamabad village in Uri, north of Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
By Alastair McCready, Federica Marsi, Usaid Siddiqui, Urooba Jamal, Nils Adler and Priyanka Shankar
Published On 8 May 2025

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9 May 2025 - 00:00
 (00:00 GMT)

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Inside Muridke: Did India hit a ‘terror base’ or a mosque? Read more here.

India and Pakistan in conflict – are there nuclear risks? Learn more here.

And for all of our coverage on the tensions between the South Asian neighbours, keep up to date here.

8 May 2025 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

Here are the top developments of the day:

  • Pakistan has denied that it launched attacks tonight in the Indian cities of Pathankot and Jaisalmer, and Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. The Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed Indian official, reported that there were attacks in Akhnoor, Samba, Kathua and multiple other locations in Jammu in Indian-administered Kashmir.
  • India also claimed that military stations in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur, which are close to the border between India and Pakistan, have been targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones, the country’s Integrated Defence Staff stated.
  • Indian media reported that a Pakistani air force pilot was captured by Indian security forces after ejecting from his fighter jet over the city of Jaisalmer. Some Pakistani officials denied the incident.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in calls with leaders of both India and Pakistan, “emphasised the need for immediate de-escalation”, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
  • India’s civil aviation ministry said that 24 airports in the country will be closed for civil flights as tensions with Pakistan escalate. Pakistan had also closed airports today, with Karachi later reopening, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).
8 May 2025 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

‘We don’t want war’: Kashmiri towns caught in deadly India-Pakistan crossfire

By Al Jazeera Staff

Reporting from Srinagar, India-administered Kashmir

Amid missiles, booming guns and chest-thumping rhetoric, India and Pakistan are moving closer to an all-out conflict.

But Kashmiris on the front line say they’re paying the price.

On Wednesday, three different regions in Indian-administered Kashmir were struck by Pakistani shelling.

“We fear the worst,” said Ahmad, adding that his two daughters, aged nine and 11, are frightened.

“They are asking why it happened? Would we be killed?” Ahmad told Al Jazeera, adding that the cross-border shelling started at 2am on Wednesday, and left two minors – a 13-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy – wounded.

Ghulam Muhammad Chopan, an 80-year-old resident, said that he felt too old to leave his home, but that there was no other option.

“At this age, I had to leave my house. At night, the firing was so intense that by dawn, the village was empty. Everyone fled,” he said.

“War should never be rejoiced. When the shells hit, they don’t ask your identity,” said Farooq Ahmad, a resident of Kamalkote village in Uri.

“Those calling for the war do not know how it feels when a shell lands on your kids when they are asleep at night.”

Read more here.

Villagers sit in a tractor trolley as they move to safer places as authorities evacuate residents living near the International Border with Pakistan, in Suchetgarh, in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir [Stringer/Reuters]
8 May 2025 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

India-Pakistan tensions should de-escalate, but are ‘none of our business’: US VP Vance

US Vice President JD Vance has said that Washington wants to see a “de-escalation” in the conflict between India and Pakistan, but that it is “fundamentally none of our business”.

“What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we’re not going to get involved in the middle of a war that’s fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it,” said Vance, an advocate of US disengagement from international conflicts, in an interview with Fox News.

United States Vice President JD Vance [File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
8 May 2025 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Residents in Jammu hear more sirens as they observe blackout

Rashul Singh Oberh, a resident in the city of Jammu in India, has told Al Jazeera that a blackout is being observed in the city, and they are hearing sirens again.

“I’m approximately 3km [1.9 miles] away from the Jammu airport. At around midnight local time, the first electricity blackout had been lifted. But at 2am [20:30 GMT] we had a blackout again and heard sirens blaring for around five minutes,” he said.

“But we saw nothing in the sky,” Oberh added.

India said Pakistan launched attacks earlier today in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has denied the claims.

8 May 2025 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

LISTEN: What nuclear risks do the current India-Pakistan hostilities pose?

International concern is mounting over the India-Pakistan conflict – as both are armed with substantial nuclear arsenals.

Atomic bombs have only been used twice – 80 years ago on Japan.

What nuclear risks do the current hostilities pose?

8 May 2025 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

Authorities in New Delhi declare a ‘high alert’: Report

A state of high alert has been declared in India’s capital New Delhi and all government employees’ leaves were cancelled amid tensions with Pakistan, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report.

Delhi’s airport also issued a travel advisory.

While its operations remain normal, the airport has warned that some flights have been affected “due to changing airspace conditions and heightened security”.

8 May 2025 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Misinformation and rumours rife on both sides, journalist says

As conflict escalated between India and Pakistan for the second day, misinformation and rumours were rife on both sides of the Radcliffe Line, helped along by mainstream and social media, a journalist based in India who preferred not to be named told Al Jazeera.

On Thursday, there were reports on Indian TV of each side moving tanks towards the other. These were refuted by the Indian government. There were also reports on Indian news channels of suicide attacks by armed men in India’s Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab states, which were also refuted by the Indian government.

On the same day, a story played on Indian news media of Pakistan’s DG ISPR admitting in a video of the shutdown of Pakistan Air Force’s two JF-17 fighter aircraft. This story eventually seems to have died a natural death when users on X pointed out the video was an apparent AI-generated fake.

8 May 2025 - 22:05
 (22:05 GMT)

Pakistan Super League matches moved to Dubai

By Abid Hussain

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed after long deliberations on Thursday that the remaining eight matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 10 will be moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to growing security concerns amid increasing tensions with India.

“The remaining fixtures of the HBL PSL X have been shifted to the UAE,” the PCB said in a statement, adding that updated dates and venues will be announced in due course.

Senior board officials, franchise representatives and players held a long meeting after news emerged of an Indian drone falling within the compound of Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

It was one of the several drones that were launched from India earlier today, which struck at least 12 cities in Pakistan.

8 May 2025 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Pakistan’s military says tensions are ‘spiralling’

By Osama Bin Javaid

Reporting from Lahore, Pakistan

Throughout the day, we have heard from [Pakistani] military spokespeople that this is an escalation which seems to be spiralling because at least four military personnel have also been wounded.

In the province of Punjab, schools have been closed for the next 48 hours. Tens of thousands of people have been affected as airports have been shut and the stock market has also been affected.

People here are telling us about how concerned they are about recent developments … But Pakistan has not yet carried out what it calls “fair and just retribution” against India for targeting the country’s civilians.

8 May 2025 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

US ‘remaining engaged with both governments’: State Department

Pakistan wants an ” independent investigation” into the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, which India blamed on Pakistan, says US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

“We want the perpetrators to be held accountable and are supportive of any efforts to that end,” Bruce said.

She added, “We continue to urge India and Pakistan to work towards a responsible solution in this.

“We also want to say that what matters in this particular instance right now is that the phone calls happened, and we are remaining engaged with both governments at multiple levels.

“We will not engage in the nature of discussing what the conversations have been or what we’ve conveyed.”

8 May 2025 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

‘In my entire life, I have never seen anything like this in Jammu city’

Tarun Upadhyay, a senior journalist based in Jammu city in India, has told Al Jazeera that the drone attacks in Jammu, India-administered Kashmir, were unprecedented.

“In my entire life, I have never seen anything like this in Jammu city,” he said.

“The situation is calmer now, but from around 8-9pm local time [14:30-15:30 GMT] there was a total blackout, chaos and fear all across Jammu city,” he noted.

“Electricity has been restored in some parts of the city, education institutions have been closed for the next two days and people living along the border [with Pakistan] have been shifted to safer places.”

8 May 2025 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

‘Flood of fake news’ on Indian media: Pakistani military sources

Pakistani military sources have told Al Jazeera that there is a “flood of fake news” on Indian media, referring to several reports claiming that a Pakistani pilot has been arrested in India after a plane was downed.

“There has been no attack on Lahore. No attack was carried out at Karachi port. No PAF jet was shot down or any losses suffered,” the military official told Al Jazeera, referring to the Pakistan Air Force.

The official also rejected the allegations that Pakistan was behind the drone attacks in Jammu earlier in the evening.

“We have not launched any attacks across the international border so far. The Indian media is perhaps spreading disinformation either to create a pretext for escalation, or to craft a notion of fake success,” he said.

8 May 2025 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Pakistan attacks Indian military stations of Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur: Indian Army

Indian military stations in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur, which are close to the border between India and Pakistan, have been targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones, according to India’s Integrated Defence Staff.

They reported that there was no loss of life in the attacks.

Indian armed forces also said they neutralised the attacks with kinetic and non-kinetic methods.

Kinetic methods of defence include using missiles and drones. Non-kinetic methods include cyberattacks and psychological warfare.

8 May 2025 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

Inside Muridke: Did India hit a ‘terror base’ or a mosque?

By Abid Hussain

Reporting from Muridke, Pakistan

The roof of the building sagged dangerously, sunlight peeked through a hole, while the ground below was littered with debris, and the doors of the rooms had been blown in by the blast.

This was India’s message to Pakistan, the outcome of one of a series of missile strikes launched in the early hours of May 7 as retribution for the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, on April 22, in which 26 people were killed. India blamed Pakistan for that attack, but Islamabad has denied any involvement.

The Indian strike on Muridke was a part of Operation Sindoor, the most expansive set of aerial attacks on Pakistan outside the four wars that the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought. And of all the sites targeted by India, it was particularly significant.

Muridke has long been believed to be home to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) armed group, which India and other countries have blamed for carrying out deadly attacks on Indian soil, including the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

Read more here

8 May 2025 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

Flights resume from Karachi’s airport: Report

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has said in a statement that flight operations at Karachi airport have been restored, Pakistani outlet Dawn is reporting.

“All other major airports in the country remain open for flight operations,” the authority said.

“Passengers are requested to contact the airline for information regarding their flights,” it added.

8 May 2025 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

Explosions in Jammu ‘completely unprecedented’

Indian journalist Zafar Choudhary has told Al Jazeera that the explosions in Jammu were completely unprecedented.

“It is completely unforeseen, completely unprecedented,” Choudhary said, speaking from Jammu city in Indian-administered Kashmir.

India claims Pakistan attacked Akhnoor, Samba, Kathua and multiple other locations in Jammu in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan has denied this claim.

According to Choudary, the sound of explosions have now stopped and the electricity blackout in the city has also been lifted.

“Electricity has been restored in a phased manner in different parts of the region. So, that is one sign of normalcy that people are feeling, and there hasn’t been any sound of explosion in the last one and a half hours,” he said.

“So, there is some relief that this might not happen again.”

8 May 2025 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

Pakistan’s information minister denies attacks in Jammu and Kashmir

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has denied that Pakistan launched attacks earlier today in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Pakistan has not targeted any locations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, or across international border, so far. Neither has any loss been incurred by PAF,” Tarar said in a post on X.

“Indian media is always spreading disinformation either to create to craft a (fake) notion of success before publicly accepting their embarrassing losses during their unprovoked aggression on night of 6/7 May 2025.

“We have only given defensive response so far! International community may take note.”

8 May 2025 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

India closes 24 airports for passenger flight operations

India’s civil aviation ministry says 24 airports in the country will be closed for civil flights as tensions with Pakistan escalate.

The ministry has not specified the duration of the closure.

Some of the airports which are closed are in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.

8 May 2025 - 19:30
 (19:30 GMT)

WATCH: Explosions rock India’s Jammu city

As India and Pakistan trade blame for attacks, explosions rock Jammu city in India.

Watch below: