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INDIA’S HEINOUS PROVOCATION NOT TO GO UNANSWERED, VOWS PM SHEHBAZ Thursday, 8 May, 2025 | 10 Ziquad, 1446
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PREMIER REAFFIRMS RESOLVE TO AVENGE EACH DROP OF BLOOD SHED BY ‘THE ENEMY’
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EMPHASIZES INDIA CAN TAKE HUNDRED DECISIONS, BUT CAN’T CHANGE THE REALITY ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
RIME Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday declared that India had “committed a grave mistake” last night by resorting to aggression “under the delusion that Pakistan would back off,” but India would have to face the consequences of its actions, state-run media reported. In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister said “India forgets that Pakistani nation has the brave sons who always fought for the respect and defence of the motherland by shedding the last drop of their blood,” Radio Pakistan reported. He said the entire world witnessed that within few hours, their enemy though large in numbers was bowed down after Pakistan Air Force eagles shot down five Indian combat jets and reduced them to pile of fragments and ashes which was once considered
as their pride, state broadcaster PTV News reported. “It (response) has the thunderous sound of squadron leader MM Alam that struck the enemy strongly,” he observed. The prime minister said the India’s cowardly attack took lives of 26 innocent people while injuring 46 others including women and children. He referred to funeral prayer of Shaheed Irtaza Abbas, 7 years old, who lost his life after hit by a splinter in his home where he was present with his mother and brother. “A tender flower withered away and attained shahadat,” he said, adding the nation paid tribute to shaheeds and their families and prayed for the recovery of the injured. The prime minister said that they had resolved that each drop of blood would be accounted for. “The timid enemy is attacking innocent people. Pakistan has proved how to respond with solid blow,” he added. The prime minister said that in one-hour fight on the Line of Control, PAF pilots
Military empowered to respond to India’s airstrikes ‘at time and manner of its choosing’ ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) has granted the armed forces full authority to respond to India’s recent missile, air, and drone strikes, which targeted civilian areas in Pakistan, including cities in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The authorization allows Pakistan to strike back “at the time, place, and manner of its choosing,” marking a significant escalation in the already tense situation. The attacks, which took place on the night of May 6–7, 2025, were reportedly aimed at multiple locations across Pakistan, including Sialkot, Shakargarh, Muridke, Bahawalpur, Kotli, and Muzaf-
farabad. The strikes resulted in the deaths of civilians, including women and children, and inflicted significant damage to civilian infrastructure, such as mosques and the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project. The NSC’s statement condemned the airstrikes as “unprovoked, cowardly, and unlawful acts of war,” and emphasized Pakistan’s right to defend itself under Article 51 of the UN Charter. The committee also highlighted India’s actions as a breach of international law, particularly criticizing the targeting of civilian areas under the false claim of “terrorist camps.” The statement added that the attacks had endangered commercial flights from Gulf countries, further escalating the situation.
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SAYS TIMID ENEMY ATTACKED INNOCENT PEOPLE, BUT PAKISTAN PROVED HOW TO RESPOND WITH SOLID BLOW DECLARES NATION TOGETHER WITH VALIANT ARMED FORCES WOULD FACE, DEFEAT THE ENEMY
while flying inside territory and with display of bravery and professionalism, reduced enemy’s jets to ashes. In conventional warfare, Pakistan also proved its superiority over its enemy. He said that he along with entire 240 million people of the country saluted Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf and every officer and soldier of Pakistan. The prime minister regretted that accusations against Pakistan with regard to Pahalgam attack were unreasonable. As a peaceful country, he said, Pakistan had offered an international transparent and credible probe which was acknowledged by the world, but India obliterated all the international laws and norms by resorting to aggression.
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Dar confirms contact between Pak-India NSAs after overnight escalation
ISLAMABAD (Staff RepoRt) : Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that contact has been made between the national security advisers (NSA) of Pakistan and India amid a recent escalation after the latter launched overnight strikes, prompting retaliation. Speaking to TRT World in an interview, Dar was questioned about whether the NSAs had spoken after the overnight action, to which he said: “Yes there has been contact between the two.” Pakistan had recently named Inter Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Asim Malik as the NSA, while his counterpart from India is Ajit Doval.
31 Pakistanis martyred, 57 injured in Indian aggression: DG ISPR RAWALPINDI
Staff RepoRt
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated that 31 innocent Pakistanis were martyred, including women and children while 57 others injured in Indian unprovoked and blatant aggression inside Pakistan last night, according to State-run media. Giving an update on the latest situation tonight, Director General ISPR, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said the cause of increased martyrdoms and injuries is the ceasefire violations at the Line of Control by India, reported Radio Paksitan.
President Erdogan says ready to play role as a committed friend of Pakistan g
MAKES PHONE CALL TO PM SHEHBAZ, REAFFIRMS HIS COUNTRY’S SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday held telephonic conversations with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to reaffirm his country’s solidarity with the people of Pakistan, while appreciating Pakistan’s commitment to advancing peace in South Asia, according to state-run media. In the telephonic call, Premier Shehbaz conveyed his deep appreciation of
Turkiye’s solidarity and support to Pakistan, following India’s unprovoked act of aggression. He condemned, in the strongest possible terms, India’s missile strikes that led to the martyrdom of 31 innocent civilians, including women and children, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). He shared that India’s cowardly attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity had gravely endangered peace and stability in the South Asia region, which was unacceptable, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister
FO summons Indian diplomat over deadly strikes ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
Pakistan on Wednesday summoned the Indian Chargé d’Affaires to formally protest the unprovoked missile strikes carried out by Indian forces across multiple locations in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in civilian casualties including women and children. In a statement, the Foreign Office said the Indian diplomat was handed a strong demarche, condemning the attacks as a blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. “Such actions are in contravention of the UN Charter, international law, and established norms governing inter-state relations,” the spokesperson said. Pakistan rejected India’s justifications for the strikes as baseless and warned that such reckless military behavior risked further destabilizing the region. The Foreign Office emphasized that peace and stability in South Asia cannot be ensured if such provocative actions go unchecked.
House on Wednesday. President Erdogan expressed heartfelt condolences over the loss of precious lives of Pakistani citizens and reaffirmed Turkiye’s solidarity with the people of Pakistan. While reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to peace in the region, the Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s determination to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity with full vigor and force. The Prime Minister shared that Pakistan categorically rejected India’s efforts to falsely implicate Pakistan in the Pahal-
gam incident, without providing any evidence. India, he further said, did not respond to his offer of having a neutral and transparent international investigation into the incident and instead, chose the dangerous path of aggression, and irresponsible State behavior. President Erdogan shared that the Turkish Foreign Minister had spoken to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar earlier today and the two had discussed the current situation in detail. He said that Turkiye supported deescalation of the situation and was ready to play its role as a committed friend of Pakistan. He said that the Turkish nation was praying for the success of Pakistan’s diplomatic initiatives.
Any further aggression to be met with strong, decisive retaliation, Dar warns India ISLAMABAD NewS DeSk
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday warned India that any future act of aggression would face a “strong and decisive retaliation,” following an unprovoked missile attack on Pakistani territory late Tuesday night. Addressing the National Assembly, Dar condemned the Indian strike, calling it a “cowardly act” under the false pretext of the Pahalgam incident. He praised the Pakistan Air Force for its “measured and disciplined” response and said that Islamabad had made its position clear to the international community. “India has already received a reply. But if it takes another step, the response will be
harsher—brick for stone,” Dar said, drawing strong applause from the House. He emphasized that Pakistan had taken a principled stance on the Pahalgam incident, offering full cooperation and investigation assistance—a gesture that was welcomed by several countries. “We briefed over 40 foreign ambassadors and diplomats at the Foreign Office and made it clear: Pakistan will not be the one to initiate aggression,” he said. Dar revealed that India launched 24 missile strikes on six sites in Pakistan, including locations in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the martyrdom of 26 civilians and injuries to dozens more.
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May 9 riots: SC’s CB declares civilians military trial as lawful ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
In a majority decision, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench (CB) on Wednesday declared the trial of civilians in military courts as lawful, setting aside the previous ruling by a five-member bench that had deemed such trials unconstitutional. According to legal experts, the top court’s verdict is a go-ahead for military trial of civilians involved in the May 9, 2023 riots. The seven-CB, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, pronounced the 5-2 majority verdict after hearing the govern-
ment’s appeals. The bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan also included Justices – Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. On the other hand, Justices Mandokhail and Afghan dissented from the verdict, dismissing the appeals in a separate order and upholding the earlier ruling that declared military trials as null and void. The ruling was announced by Justice Aminuddin Khan in Courtroom No. 4, with detailed reasons to be announced later. The Supreme Court stated
that the verdict would be immediately uploaded to its website. The CB on Monday had reserved its judgment on appeals challenging the military trials of civilians with Justice Khan stated that a short order will be issued within this week, adding urgency to the high-profile case that has significant constitutional implications. The case pertains to the military trials and the subsequent sentencing of civilians for their role in attacks on army installations during the riots that followed ex-premier Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023. The 5-2 ruling came as the CB accepted a set of 38 intra-court appeals
(ICAs) moved by the federal and provincial governments as well as Shuhada Forum Balochistan, among others, against the widely-praised October 2023 ruling that declared that trying the accused civilians in military courts violated the Constitution. Justice Aminuddin announced the 10-page short order of the majority ruling. The bench also directed the government to make the necessary amendments in the PAA within 45 days to allow the convicted individuals the right to appeal their sentences before a high court.
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He said no religion allows targeting mosques and worship places and it is not humanity that innocent civilians are targeted by India. The DG ISPR said Pakistan Armed Forces selected only military targets contrary to India, which attacked civilian population. Lt-Gen Chaudhry said that Pakistan’s Armed Forces gave a befitting and strong response and shot down five Indian fighter jets. “Our valiant PAF engaged and took the Indian fighter jets down after they released the weapons”, he lauded. He mentioned that when India was resorting to the cowardly and senseless aggression, 57 domestic and international flights were in Pakistan’s airspace.
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Five Indian jets downed: DG ISPR RAWALPINDI
Staff RepoRt
Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, confirmed on Wednesday that 26 civilians were martyred and 46 others injured in overnight Indian airstrikes targeting multiple civilian areas across Pakistan. Speaking during a briefing on Wednesday, the DG ISPR said that India fired 24 missiles on six different locations inside Pakistani territory. He said that 13 people were martyred in Bahawalpur’s Ahmedpur East area. The deceased included two three-year-old girls, seven women, and four men. In addition, 37 individuals were injured, including nine women and 28 men. In a separate incident near Muzaffarabad, a strike on Bilal Mosque resulted in three fatalities, while two children — a girl and a boy — sustained injuries, he added. Another attack occurred in Kotli, where the Abbas Mosque was targeted. Two teenagers, a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy, were martyred. A woman and her daughter were also injured in the same incident. He further stated that no casualties were reported in Sialkot or Shakargarh, although a dispensary in Shakargarh sustained minor damage. The military spokesperson also confirmed that Indian army firing along the Line of Control martyred five civilians, including a five-year-old child.
Lt-Gen Malik, Marco Rubio discuss regional tensions as world reacts to Indian missiles attack
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ISLAMABAD/LAHORE MoNitoRiNg RepoRt
National Security Advisor Lt-Gen Muhammad Asim Malik and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held detailed discussions on the tense situation between Pakistan and India in the aftermath of late-night missiles strikes by the latter that killed 31 civilians and injured 57 others. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed his hope for engagement towards a peaceful resolution, urging on both countries to exercise “maximum military restraint”. Earlier in a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is closely monitoring the escalating situation between India and Pakistan, following India’s targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure across the border. Rubio, who also holds the role of National Security Adviser, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to engaging both sides in pursuit of de-escalation and peace. “I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely,” Rubio said in a post on X. “I echo President Trump’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pak-