Pakistan’s armed forces have shot down 77 Indian drones over the past 24 hours, state-run PTV reported, citing security sources.
On Thursday, India resorted to deploying drones inside Pakistan, with Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry announcing in the evening that forces had shot down 29 of them. He clarified that these were Israeli-manufactured Harop drones, with a separate statement by the ISPR saying both soft-kill (technical) and hard-kill (weapons-based) systems were utilized against them.
According to PTV, forces shot down another 48 drones between the military spokesman’s statement and this morning. It said security sources had vowed to continue giving a befitting reply to the enemy’s ongoing aggression. While PTV did not give any details, local journalists reported several drones were downed in Okara, Vehari and Pakpattan. It remains unclear whether the additional drones have caused any casualties.
In an address to the National Assembly, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif defended the military’s decision to allow the drones to enter Pakistan before shooting them down. Explaining that the drones aimed to detect air defense locations inside Pakistan, he said authorities had allowed them entry to ensure the locations remained secret. “We shot down the drones at a safe location,” he claimed.
To questions about the progress of the Pak-Indo conflict, he said ministers were updating Parliament about the evolving situation and this would continue. “No one should doubt that our armed forces are fully engaged in responding to the Indian aggression,” he said. “We want to assure the nation that we are 200 percent prepared to respond to the current situation,” he said, emphasizing that the forces’ morale remained high.
Asif claimed only Israel was outright supporting India, adding a majority of the global community had adopted a policy of neutrality about the conflict. In addition, he said, some of Pakistan’s “friends” such as China, Turkiye and Azerbaijan had voiced “clear-cut” support for Pakistan. He said the government was also in touch with Iran, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, China and Qatar on a daily basis to keep them apprised of the ongoing developments.