10 Civilians in Border Villages Killed in Pakistan Mortar Shelling, Flights from Border Airports Cancelled, Kartarpur Corridor Closed
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 7: At least 10 civilians were killed and more than 40 others injured in the heavy mortar shelling on the forward villages along the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri by the Pakistan army as the Indian armed forces launched “Operation Sindoor” and struck terror camps in Pakistan and PoK early Wednesday, officials said.
Two CRPF jawans sustained injuries in the shelling. Both are in stable condition, the officials said. “A shell landed at a bus stand, damaged the bus completely,” officials said.
Officials said the shelling was reported from the Krishna Ghati, Shahpur, and Mankote in Poonch, Laam, Manjakote and Gambeer Brahmana in Rajouri district. The Indian Army also hit back at Pakistan and retaliated to the shelling. The BSF was put on high alert, especially along India’s western borders with Pakistan.
Commercial flights at over a dozen airports in northern parts of the country have been cancelled till May 10, multiple airlines said citing a government notification that was issued after the “Operation Sindoor.”
IndiGo in a statement said it had cancelled over 165 flights from 11 airports until 0529 hours on May 10. The decision was taken “due to government notification on airspace restrictions,” it added. IndiGo’s flights have been impacted at Amritsar, Bikaner, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Gwalior, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Leh, Rajkot, and Srinagar.
Air India too said in a post on X that its flights from nine airports were being cancelled for the same time period. These airports are Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot. Air India Express too has cancelled its flights from Amritsar, Gwalior, Jammu, Srinagar and Hindon till May 10.
All airlines have offered free rescheduling of flights as well as the option of seeking a full refund. Early on Wednesday, many airlines had announced suspension of flight operations at many of these airports until 12 p.m. as Indian defence forces mounted an attack at several points near the border with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district was shut for the day, a senior official said on Wednesday. The development came after the Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke.
The Kartarpur corridor links the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district. Stating that the Kartarpur corridor has been suspended for the day, the official said pilgrims will not be allowed to visit the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara on Wednesday.
Many pilgrims reached the Kartarpur corridor on Wednesday morning to offer prayers at the gurdwara in Pakistan but they were asked to return.
