Pakistan moving military planes to bases near J&K after Pahalgam terror attack? What we know

Terrorists yesterday attacked and killed 28 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, in the worst onslaught India has seen since the Pulwama tragedy. Soon after, several social media posts appeared to allege that Pakistan was moving military assets to bases near J&K.

These posts seem to share screengrabs from flight tracking website Flightradar24 that appear to show Pakistan Air Force (PAF) planes leaving the Southern Air Command in Karachi for bases in the north -- near Lahore and Rawalpindi. Notably, military planes are usually not trackable on such sites for security reasons.

That said, these are PAF's nearest airbase to Indian borders in the north with Rawalpindi hosting the Nur Khan air base -- one of Pakistan's major operational sites.

The X posts highlighted two specific flights -- PAF198, a Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft, and PAF101, a smaller Embraer Phenom 100 jet, often used for VIP transport or intelligence operations.

Pakistan has not responded to this yet, India Today reported.

Notably, India, after the Pulwama attack in 2019 -- which saw 40 soldiers killed -- targeted a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) training camp in Balakot with air strikes.

Yesterday's attack occurred around 2:45 PM as tourists — many of them families from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu — were exploring the lush meadows of Baisaran, often dubbed “mini Switzerland”. Among the dead are two foreigners and two local residents, police confirmed, though identities have yet to be officially released.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and horror as terrorists clad in military-style fatigues emerged suddenly and began firing automatic weapons without warning. “We heard sudden gunshots, and people started screaming and running for cover,” said an eyewitness. “It all happened very quickly.”

(With DHNS inputs)