Samba (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 9 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday strongly condemned Pakistan's attempted drone attacks targeting civilians in Jammu, warning that continued escalation would lead to severe consequences for the neighbouring country.

Addressing the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, Abdullah emphasised that Pakistan would 'suffer the most' if it persists with its aggressive actions.

He noted that since the 1971 War, such a kind of attack had never taken place in Jammu.

The J&K CM credited the Indian defence forces for their swift response, noting that all the drones were shot down, thwarting Pakistan's attempt to attack an ammunition depot in Kashmir's Anantnag district, which was reportedly also a target.

'The biggest thing is that they (Pakistan) have tried to target civilians. The way they targeted the attack on Jammu with drones, I don't think that since the 1971 war, such an attack on Jammu has taken place,' Abdullah said.

'But the credit goes to our defence forces. They shot down all the drones... It was reported that they tried to target the ammunition depot in Kashmir's Anantnag, but the attempt was foiled,' he added.

CM Abdullah reiterated that India did not initiate the conflict, pointing to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 innocent civilians as the trigger for India's response.

'Our people, innocent people, were killed in Pahalgam, and we had to reply to it,' he said, referring to Operation Sindoor, where the Indian Armed Forces targeted nine terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Wednesday.

The Chief Minister criticised Pakistan's recent actions as an attempt to escalate.

'What happened last night was an attempt to escalate. They will suffer the most if they escalate. They should move forward with de-escalation instead of escalation,' Abdullah warned, urging Pakistan to lay down its weapons to normalise the situation.

Escalating its tensions with India, Pakistan targeted Jammu using Hamas-style missiles to target multiple areas on Thursday, defence sources told ANI.

The sources said the attack resembled a Hamas-style operation in Israel, where multiple cheap rockets were used to target cities.

Pakistan's attempted retaliation came in the wake of India's Operation Sindoor, where the Indian armed forces targeted nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday.

The operation was a direct response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Earlier on Thursday, the Indian Army had shot down more than 50 Pakistani drones during the large-scale counter-drone operation along the LoC and International Borders (IB), sources told ANI.

The Indian Armed Forces also successfully neutralised Pakistan military's attempts of a large-scale drone and missile attack on multiple Indian military installations across Northern and Western India during the night of May 7-8 and an Air Defence system at Lahore was neutralised. (ANI)