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Indian forces foiled Pakistan’s bid to target military installations in 15 towns and cities on Wednesday night, said New Delhi. The drones and missiles launched by Pakistan were destroyed by unmanned aircraft systems and defence systems, the defence ministry added.

The locations that were targeted were Awantipora, Jammu and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur and Bathinda in Punjab, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi and Uttarlai in Rajasthan, and Bhuj in Gujarat.

This came after India targeted terrorist camps in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The Pakistan Army retaliated by shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Sixteen persons were killed in the firing, according to the ministry. Read on.

‘We don’t want war’: Amid public endorsement for strikes, some Indians are worried

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has described the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack as the “original escalation” that led to the current tensions between India and Pakistan. He said at a media briefing that India’s response to the attack was “restrained, directed at non-civilians, non-military targets, and confined to terrorist camps”. Read on.

Bangladesh’s border force detained at least 123 persons who were allegedly trying to enter the country from India without documents. Among those detained are Rohingyas and Bangla-speaking persons. Bangladesh has alleged that they were “pushed in” by India’s Border Security Force.

They are in the custody of the Border Guard Bangladesh and their identities were being verified. A senior Indian police officer confirmed to Scroll that some of the persons detained were from the Matia detention centre in Assam.

Dhaka has stated that if the detained persons are verified to be citizens of Bangladesh, they will accept them. This comes amid strained ties between New Delhi and Dhaka after Sheikh Hasina resigned as the prime minister and fled to India. Read on.

A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal has sought the response of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that his party was fighting not just the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh but also the Indian state.

Gandhi, at an event to inaugurate the Congress’ new headquarters in Delhi on January 15, had said that his party was not engaged in a fair fight with the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS. The BJP had claimed that the Congress leader’s remarks about being engaged in a fight with the Indian State showed the party’s true face.

In his complaint, Simran Gupta, the president of a Hindutva organisation called the Hindu Shakti Dal, claimed that Gandhi’s statements “deeply hurt the sentiments of people across the country”. Read on.

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