"Using Civilian Planes as shields": Pakistan shuts down airspace for civilian planes

New Delhi : A day after India claimed that Pakistan has deliberately kept its air space open for civilian planes to use them as shield against India's defence attack, it has been learned that now Pakistan has shut its air space for civilian flights.

The decision, notified through a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), comes at a time when attacks have been escalated between the two nuclear-powered nations.

From past two nights, a large number of drones have been seen coming from Pakistan near the LoC in India. Almost all armed and unarmed drones have been successfully neutralized by India's defence system.

On Thursday, India has accused Pakistan of endangering international air traffic by keeping its airspace open while executing drone and missile operations.

"Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights which were flying near the international border between India and Pakistan," Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Army said at a press briefing.

Pakistan deployed between 300 and 400 drones, identified preliminarily as Turkish-made Asisguard Songar models, on the night of May 8-9.

Blackouts have been seen across the region around LoC as India retaliated to Pakistan's drone action.