Operation Sindoor: Schools, educational institutions across J&K to remain closed; north India flights impacted

All schools, colleges and educational institutions will remain closed in parts of Jammu and Kashmir -- Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch today. All schools have been closed for 72 hours in Pathankot. Over a dozen houses have been damaged in Kupwara district's Triboni, Batapora, and Tangdhar areas. 

The development comes hours after the Indian Air Force (IAF), under the codename Operation Sindoor, struck down 9 terror sites in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and the Punjab province. The terror sites struck down by India include Bahawalpur, the home of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). 

Meanwhile, several airports in northern India have also been closed following Operation Sindoor. These are Dharamshala (DHM), Leh (IXL), Jammu (IXJ), Srinagar (SXR), Amritsar (ATQ), and Chandigarh. IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet issued a travel advisory to their customers, saying that their flights in northern India are impacted by the current airspace restrictions. 

"Due to changing airspace conditions in the region, our flights to and from Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Bikaner and Dharamshala are impacted by the current airspace restrictions," IndiGo said in its travel advisory. 

"In view of the prevailing situation, Air India has cancelled all its flights to and from the following stations – Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot – till 12 noon on 7 May, pending further updates from authorities. Two international flights en route to Amritsar are being diverted to Delhi. We regret the inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen disruption. For more information, please call our Contact Centre on 011-69329333 / 011-69329999," Air India said. 

"#TravelUpdate: Due to ongoing situation, airports in parts of northern India, including Dharamshala (DHM), Leh (IXL), Jammu (IXJ), Srinagar (SXR), and Amritsar (ATQ), are closed until further notice. Departures, arrivals, and consequential flights may be impacted. Passengers are advised to plan their journey accordingly and check flight status at: https://spicejet.com/#status," SpiceJet told its passengers. 

Furthermore, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the chief minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, on Wednesday said that educational institutions will remain closed tomorrow "in view of public safety". As per the official notification she shared on X,  all examinations in universities and colleges, barring those administered by international examining bodies, have been postponed. 

"Furthermore, all the examinations of BISEs/Universities/Colleges in Punjab scheduled to be held on 07-05-2025 shall stand postponed; the new schedule for these examinations will be announced separately in due course of time," the notification by Punjab province government's Higher Education Department read. 

Meanwhile, the defence ministry said in its release that the strikes against Pakistan were in response to the "barbaric" terrorist attack in Pahalgam, wherein 25 Indian citizens and 1 Nepali citizen were killed. All three services utilised precision strike weapon systems, including loitering munitions, in the operation. 

The coordinates for the target locations were provided by Indian intelligence agencies, and all the strikes were launched from Indian soil.