'Dekho taara toota...then the sky turned red': Jammu residents recount night of Pakistani air strikes

Panic spread through Jammu and its outskirts on Thursday late night and early hours of Friday, after loud explosions and flashes of light were seen in the sky, leading to a complete blackout.

Several explosions near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch and Rajouri districts were reported. These developments come just a day after India launched Operation Sindoor, a cross-border strike targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

#WATCH | Jammu & Kashmir | A local says, "As soon as we started dinner last night, we heard the sound of some explosions... Explosions were heard again at around 4:30 a.m., but they were also neutralised by our forces. There is nothing to worry about. Our forces are on alert. pic.twitter.com/XA3QsvpsG5

ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2025

J&K CM Omar Abdullah on Friday morning said that he is heading to Jammu to examine the situation post explosions. "Driving to Jammu now to take stock of the situation after last night’s failed Pakistani drone attack directed at Jammu city & other parts of the division,” Abdullah wrote in a post on X.

Driving to Jammu now to take stock of the situation after last nights failed Pakistani drone attack directed at Jammu city & other parts of the division. pic.twitter.com/8f8PLA6Vgg Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 9, 2025

Jammu residents heard sirens wailing and flashes lit up the night sky. Social media was quickly flooded with videos showing flares and suspected projectiles.

#WATCH | J&K | A complete blackout has been enforced in Samba of Jammu Division and sirens can be heard. pic.twitter.com/36CXykChOD ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2025

Deepika Pushkar Nath, a lawyer from Trikuta Nagar, described the experience: “I was in the garden when my daughter pointed at the sky saying, ‘dekho taara toota’ (look, a shooting star). Then I saw multiple flares and heard loud bangs. Suddenly, the entire city went dark.”

In areas like Sunjwan, residents reported hearing what sounded like drones overhead, followed by a series of loud blasts and a power outage that lasted nearly half an hour. “The sky turned red, there were multiple explosions, and it felt like drones were above us,” said Munaza, a local resident.

"As soon as we started dinner last night, we heard the sound of some explosions... Explosions were heard again at around 4.30 am, but they were also neutralised by our forces. There is nothing to worry about. Our forces are on alert. Bhagwati Vaishno Devi is sitting in Jammu, there is nothing to be scared of... Attacking civilians is nothing but cowardice because they (Pakistan) don't have the courage to fight our forces. This is all that they can do... Our forces are giving a befitting reply and we are proud of them..." a local told ANI.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) read, “The resilience of Jammu. I’m on the road and you would never guess there were explosions last night. Joggers, vendors, people going to work, everything feels normal.”

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) foiled an infiltration attempt along the International Boundary in Samba district around 11 pm on May 8. The BSF confirmed the incident in an official statement.

Defence sources told ANI that Indian air defence systems had shot down a Pakistani Air Force jet near Pathankot, though this has not been confirmed by the government. In a separate event, two Pakistani drones were intercepted and neutralised by the Indian Army in Naushera during an intense exchange of fire.

These incidents come in the wake of Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, which involved missile strikes on nine terror camps linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The operation was a response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.