Schools, colleges to remain closed in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch amid escalating tensions between India, Pak

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 8 (ANI): Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the Divisional Commissioner of Jammu announced that all schools, colleges & educational institutions in the districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch will remain closed on Friday.
"In view of the prevailing situation all Schools, Colleges & educational institutions (private as well as Government) in the districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch shall remain closed tomorrow on 9th May as well," Divisional Commissioner of Jammu wrote on X.
Meanwhile, all government and private schools in the border districts of Rajasthan including Barmer, Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar and Jaisalmer have declared a holiday until further notification.
Early on May 7 morning, India executed a coordinated assault using long-range high-precision strike weapons, destroying nine sites in PoK and deep inside Pakistan in an operation codenamed 'Sindoor'.
Over 100 terrorists were eliminated in a series of precision strikes launched in the early hours of Wednesday, according to sources.
The operation, aimed at avenging the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed, remains underway, making it challenging to provide an exact casualty count of the terrorists at this stage, sources further stated.
Indian Armed Forces successfully neutralised Pakistan military's attempts at 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 has been neutralised.
Addressing the Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) press briefing on Thursday, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said that India's Integrated Counter-UAS Grid and Air Defence systems successfully neutralised the threats. She further said that in response to Pakistan's attempted attacks, the Indian Armed Forces this morning targeted multiple air defence radars and systems across Pakistan.
"This morning, the Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised," she said.
Speaking about Wednesday's press briefing on 'Operation Sindoor', Colonel Qureshi said, "During the press briefing on operation Sindoor on 07 May 2025, India had called its response as focused, measured and non-escalatory. It was specifically mentioned that Pakistani military establishments had not been targeted. It was also reiterated that any attack on military targets in India will invite a suitable response." (ANI)