Pakistan kept its airspace open on Thursday and used civilian flights as a shield while covertly launching “failed unprovoked drone and missile attacks”, the Indian military said on Friday.

“Pakistan is using civil airliner as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response,” Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said. “This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners including the international flights which were flying near IB [international border] between India and Pakistan.”

The military used FlightRadar24 visuals to show that the Indian airspace was cleared of civilian flights due to a closure, while flights continued between Karachi and Lahore.

“Indian Air Force demonstrated considerable restraint in its response, thus ensuring the safety of international civil carriers,” Singh added.

The Army’s Colonel Sofia Qureshi said that Pakistan launched 300 to 400 drones targeting military installations in 36 locations along India’s northern and western borders, all of which were intercepted. Initial investigations indicated that Turkish-made Asisguard Songar drones were used in the attacks.

A blackout was enforced in several cities in North India on Thursday night amid reports that Pakistani drones were attempting to attack the Jammu region. Several social media users in Jammu reported hearing explosions and seeing missile streaks in the sky.

Blackouts were also imposed in Samba, Baramulla and Kishtwar areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Amritsar and Jalandhar in Punjab, and Bikaner in Rajasthan, among other places.

Singh further stated that in retaliation to the attack, armed drones were deployed targeting four air defence locations in Pakistan. “One of the drones was able to destroy an air defence radar,” she added.

During the press conference on Friday, foreign Secretary Vikram Misri debunked Pakistani claims that India attacked its own cities.

“Instead of owning up to its actions, Pakistan made the preposterous and outrageous claims that it is the Indian armed forces that is targeting its own cities like Amritsar and trying to blame Pakistan,” he said. “They are well-versed in such actions as their history would show.”

Misri also called attacks on places of worship including gurdwaras, churches and temples in India “a new low even for Pakistan”.

This came after the Indian military on Wednesday carried out strikes on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Nine sites were targeted during the strikes, which were code-named Operation Sindoor.

At least 31 persons were killed and 46 injured in Pakistan in India’s strikes, reported Al Jazeera. Islamabad claimed that the strikes killed and injured several civilians and called the operation a violation of its sovereignty.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that Operation Sindoor was carried out with “precision, alertness and humanity” to ensure that civilians were not affected. He reiterated India’s position that the action was “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”.

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 India’s defence ministry.

The Pakistani Army claimed that it had shot down 25 Indian drones that entered its airspace since Wednesday night. Pakistan military Spokesperson Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry claimed that drones were targeting cities such as Lahore and Karachi.

The terror attack at the Baisaran area near Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on April 22 left 26 dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.