Jammu, 9 May (H.S.): Blasts were heard and

sirens sounded in the Jammu region as the city plunged into darkness for a second consecutive night on Friday, officials said.

They said drones were also sighted in Jammu, Samba and neighbouring Pathankot district in Punjab and they were being engaged.

In Srinagar, mosque loudspeakers were used to convey to locals to switch off their lights as a precautionary measure.

The blasts come amid ongoing shelling by Pakistan following India’s strike on terror hideouts in the country earlier this week as part of Operation Sindoor.

“Intermittent sounds of blasts, probably heavy artillery, can now be heard from where I am,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X.

He also posted a picture of the city in darkness, captioning the post as, “Blackout in Jammu now. Sirens can be heard across the city.”

He said in another post, “It’s my earnest appeal to everyone in and around Jammu please stay off the streets, stay at home or at the nearest place you can comfortably stay at for the next few hours. Ignore rumours, don’t spread unsubstantiated or unverified stories and we will get through this together.”

Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar