New Delhi: India on Thursday thwarted Pakistan's attempts to strike military sites with drones and missiles at 15 places in northern and western regions of the country and targeted Pakistani air defence systems with one in Lahore being "neutralised", as tensions soared between the two countries amid fears of a wider conflict.

The attempts by Pakistan came after the Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out precise missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor'. As the Ministry of Defence(MoD) reiterated that any attack on military sites in India will invite a “suitable response”, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the choice of de-escalation is with Pakistan as it escalated the situation with the Pahalgam terror attack and that India only responded to it through ‘Operation Sindoor'.

As leaders across the political spectrum projected a united front, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is reported to have told an all-party meeting that at least 100 hardcore terrorists and their associates were killed in the Indian strikes.

At another event, he assured the nation that no limit will become an obstacle for the Government in protecting India's sovereignty.

“We are fully prepared for such responsible responses in the future as well.” In a press statement, the MoD said that on the night of May 7-8, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj. “These attempts were neutralised by the Integrated Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (Grid and Air Defence systems),” it said.

The S-400 air defence systems were deployed to counter the attacks in northern India. The statement said the debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani strikes. "It was also reiterated that any attack on military targets in India will invite a suitable response." The statement further said that the armed forces targeted this morning air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. “Indian response has been in the same domain with the same intensity as Pakistan," the ministry said. "It has been reliably learnt that an air defence system at Lahore has been neutralised."

Indian drones neutralised: Pak In Islamabad, Pakistan Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry claimed that drones launched by India were neutralised in Lahore, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Bahawalpur, Miano, Karachi, Chhor, Rawalpindi, and Attock. He said one drone crashed near Lahore and four soldiers sustained injuries as a result of the attack.

An official said that at least four drones hit the Lahore cantonment area. "So far, 25 Israeli-made Harop drones have been shot down by the Pakistani Army's soft kill (technical) and hard kill (weapons),” the Pakistan Army claimed in a statement.

In New Delhi, the MoD said Pakistan has increased the intensity of its unprovoked firing across the Line of Control(LoC) using mortars and heavy calibre artillery in areas in Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar and Rajouri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir. "Sixteen innocent lives have been lost, including three women and five children, due to Pakistani firing," the ministry said.