Deaths and destruction in Bahawalpur, Muridke after Indian strikes

Dawn Report 

Published May 8, 2025

Muridke: Shrapnel from Indian munitions is displayed amid the debris of destroyed structures at the Government Health and Educational complex after Indian strikes; while (right) rescue workers recover a body from a damaged building at the site of a suspected Indian missile attack.—M. Arif / White Star


• Four missiles struck Jamia Masjid Ummul Qura in Muridke, killing three civilians

• 13 people, including two girls, martyred in Subhan mosque strike

• Funeral of Bahawalpur victims held at Dring Stadium

LAHORE: Tensions between India and Pakistan have intensified after a series of Indian air and drone strikes resulted in the deaths of at least 31 Pakistani civilians, with many others injured, including 16 martyred only in Muridke and Bahawalpur.

As many as three civilians were kil­led when four Indian missiles struck Jamia Masjid Ummul Qura and an ad­­joining house in Muridke, some 40 kilometres from Lahore. The decea­sed were identified as Abdul Malik (from Jhang), Mohammad Alam (Samundri), and Midasar (Chunian).

Two others were injured and shif­ted to local hospitals. Sources said that the area had reportedly been evacuated earlier due to warnings of a possible strike, which helped reduce further casualties. The mosque was des­troyed and local authorities later arr­a­­­nged visits for both international and domestic media to inspect the site.

Bahawalpur

In Bahawalpur, officials confirmed that 13 civilians, including four men, seven women and two three-year-old girls, were killed in the missile strike on Subhan Mosque, located in the Chowk Azam area on the outskirts of Bahawalpur between the night of May 6 and 7.

The military’s media wing ISPR has yet to release an official list of the deceased. Most of the victims belonged to the same family, but they have yet to be officially identified.

When Dawn contacted the related government officials for the lists of the martyrs and injured, it was informed that the ISPR was finalising it before releasing it to the media.

High-level visits were conducted by Corps Commander Bahawalpur Lt Gen Aqeel, Divisional Commissioner Musarrat Jabeen and Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique, who met with the injured at Bahawal Victoria Hospital on directives from the Punjab chief minister.

The targeted mosque and madressah complex are located in Azam Chowk, not in Ahmedpur East as previously speculated.

The madressah premises also include residences, where most of the deceased lived and were targeted by the Indian missiles.

Dawn learnt that the private seminary during the last week had been evacuated by the local administration, apprehending any Indian assault on it. However, the residents of the seminary’s residential quarters and students were allowed to return just a day before the attack.

Witnesses reported hearing four po­­werful explosions that shook windows as far as Satellite Town and Ba­­ghdadul Jadeed Railway Station. Des­pite the panic, many residents rushed towards the blast site, chanting slogans in support of the armed forces.

Meanwhile, life went on as usual in Bahawalpur, with commercial activities in the grain, vegetable markets and local bazaars continuing on Wednesday along with the normal flow of traffic on roads.

However, public and private schools, colleges, and universities remained closed under the government’s orders.

The funeral prayers for victims were offered at Bahawalpur’s Dring Sta-dium under tight security measures.

Narowal

In Narowal’s Shakargarh sector, Indian forces launched drone and mortar shell attacks on civilian areas late Tuesday night. A government dispensary sustained partial damage, while mortar shells and drone munitions fell in surrounding fields but failed to detonate. The Pakistan Army also launched a counterattack on Indian forces. The Indian army also fired ammunition in the Harra and Sial villages.

A drone was later recovered from a tree and defused by the bomb disposal squad after being alerted by citi­­zens. Narowal Deputy Com­mis­sioner Syed Hassan Raza declared an emergency at all hospitals across the district, including BHUs, RHCs and DHQ Hospital. Doctors and paramedical staff were placed on 24-hour alert and full stocks of medicines and medical supplies were ensured.

Asif Chaudhry in Lahore, Majeed Gill in Bahawalpur and Abid Mahmood in Narowal contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2025

Unwarranted aggression

Editorial 

Dawn

Published May 8, 2025 

IT is a time of great peril in the subcontinent. India’s provocative attack targeting several locations in Azad Kashmir and Punjab early on Wednesday comes after two weeks of sabre-rattling by warmongering officials and media personnel in that country following the tragic Pahalgam episode.

It appears that the danger has not passed, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the nation last evening that India would “suffer the consequences” of its ill-advised moves. Earlier, there was a welcome show of political unity in the National Assembly, while the day began with a meeting of the National Security Committee, which dubbed New Delhi’s perilous actions as “acts of war”.

The deadly aggression against Pakistan has put both neighbours on the path to more conflict, unless a negotiated end to this dispute — and to the core issue of Kashmir — is found. Pakistan has responded to the blatant violation of its sovereignty resolutely, with the state saying that five Indian warplanes were downed during the hostilities. It is hoped that the message been understood in New Delhi, and that the latter’s shenanigans will not be repeated.

Aside from sites in Azad Kashmir, locations in Punjab were also hit. At least 31 people in Pakistan were killed in India’s so-called Operation Sindoor, according to the DG ISPR. This reckless act on India’s part could have resulted in more casualties had the intruders not been confronted in time. The Indian military’s claim that the attacks were “non-escalatory in nature” defies belief. Violating a country’s frontiers, hitting its cities and towns and murdering its people is not just escalatory; these are very much acts of war. Moreover, if the Indian state says only the ‘terror infrastructure’ was targeted, then how would New Delhi explain the fact that civilian neighbourhoods, as well as the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project, were attacked? The fact is that the Indian state took this ill-conceived action to cover up for its massive security lapse in Pahalgam. What happened in the held Kashmir tourist spot was indeed deplorable, and the guilty should be brought to justice. Yet the BJP government has used the tragedy to create war hysteria against Pakistan, without any proof of this country’s involvement in that attack.

If India has solid evidence against Pakistan, why has it failed to make it public? Using Pahalgam as a casus belli against Pakistan seems to be a manoeuvre by the Modi regime to boost its standing domestically, and throw its weight around in the neighbourhood. This foolish gambit has failed and has brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war.

Following the Indian attack, there has been a crescendo of global voices calling for restraint and de-escalation, with several states offering their good offices to mediate. Pakistan has shown itself ready to accept such offers, but will India respond positively to prevent the slide towards all-out war? The events of the past few weeks have once again demonstrated that the Kashmir dispute remains a global flashpoint. While India may believe its own fiction that the Kashmir dispute has been ‘resolved’, Pakistan, the Kashmiris as well as the world community continue to acknowledge the fact that the region remains disputed. Pakistan and India have fought several wars over Kashmir, and are on the precipice of a fresh conflict due to it.

Therefore, in order to establish long-term peace in South Asia, both states need to talk to each other, frankly and meaningfully. This may be a bitter pill to swallow for the Hindu revivalist BJP regime, which has never stopped dreaming of ‘Akhand Bharat’. But it would be to its own detriment if it does not shed its ideological fantasies and come to the table with Pakistan and the Kashmiris to achieve a solution acceptable to all. The alternative is perpetual hostility. In the immediate future, the global community must step up efforts to de-escalate, and media and civil society on both sides should stop fanning the flames of war.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2025