Multiple blasts heard in Pakistan's Lahore a day after India's Operation Sindoor: Reports

Loud explosions were heard on Walton Road in the city of the Punjab province prompting common people to come out of their houses in panic.

A thick cloud of smoke engulfed the city as multiple explosions were heard in Lahore.

Ali Aftab, a Lahore resident who heard a "buzzing sound" after an explosion at 7 am, told Reuters, " Immediately I rushed to the rooftop and saw smoke rising...the area was cordoned off by security forces soon after the incident."

Loud sounds were also heard in Gujranwala and Sialkot earlier in the day.

Airports in Lahore and Sialkot were shut down amid the volatile situation between India and Pakistan, who have locked horns again after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists on April 22.

Operation Sindoor

Nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were targeted and destroyed in 25 minutes of Operation Sindoor, which was conducted from 1:05 am on Wednesday by all three wings of the Indian armed forces.

The terrorists camps were the major training hubs of Pak-based terror groups- Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen. 

According to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the operation was aimed at neutralizing terror camps actively involved in planning and executing attacks against India.

At a press briefing with the Army, India's foreign secretary Vikram Misri said, "The attack in Pahalgam was marked by extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots from close range and in front of their family...the family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message. The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining normalcy returning to Kashmir..."

"Our intelligence monitory of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and pre-empt. Earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.... These actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists' infrastructure."

He added, "It was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the 22nd attack be brought to justice. Despite a fortnight having passed since the attack, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan against terrorists' infrastructure in its area."

The Army has clearly warned Pakistan of retaliation if Islamabad escalates the volatile situation after Operation Sindoor.

Pahalgam attack

On April 22, 2025, the terrorists- belonging to The Resistance Front (TRF), which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)- asked the victims to chant Islamic verses (kalma) and made them pull down their pants to be sure of their their non-Muslim religious identities (read circumcision)  before gunning them down before their families, including wives, children and daughters.

The massacre triggered nationwide outrage and escalated India-Pakistan tensions as New Delhi vowed to avenge the killings of 26 tourists in Pahalgam of Jammu and Kashmir.

In an immediate response, India suspended the landmark Indus River water-sharing treaty and closed the Attari-Wagah road border, which acts as a lifeline of Indo-Pak trade and people-to-people ties, besides expelling diplomats, downsizing high commissions, and issuing a 48-hour deadline to Pakistani visa holders present in India to leave.