Pakistan Airlines Flights Spotted Near International Border After Drone Attacks; Allegedly Used as Shield

The Pakistan Army are using civilian and commercial flights as a shield during the war with India. In a recent report, it was noticed that two commercial aircraft were flying near Lahore on Friday night, May 9, after firing multiple drones towards Indian territory, one of which hit a residential area in Punjab's Firozpur, injuring three members of the same family. However, the Indian defence system intercepted several drones in the sky in Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and other border areas.

Also Read | Pakistan Drone Attack in Punjab: Family Injured After Drone Hits Residential Area in Firozpur.

Earlier in the day, the government mentioned how Pakistan Armed Forces were using civilian aeroplanes as their shield and did not close its airspace on Thursday night (May 8) and allowed civilian planes to operate near border areas, while it sneakily launched Turkish-made drones at Indian cities.

Crazy! A Pakistan International Airlines flight which was supposed to take off at 1:25pm took off 8 hours late, at 9:26pm from Quetta to Lahore.
This can't be coincidental right? Look at the Pakistani airspace#OperationSindoorhttps://t.co/foCIBgiYzCpic.twitter.com/8LjfnFgWGi

— Siddharth Prabhakar (@Sidprabhakar7) May 9, 2025

A Pakistan Airlines Plane, PIA 306, was detected flying near the international border (IB). The flight reportedly took off from Karachi and was headed to Lahore. Another flight, ABQ406, was scheduled to land at 10 pm on Friday (Pakistan local time). It was also flying from Karachi to Lahore, as per the NDTV report.

The Indian government of Friday, said Pakistan did not close its airspace to passenger flights, and used civilian airliners as shields as it launched drones and missiles at Indian cities, citing FlightRadar24 radar application flight-tracking data. 

“Pakistan is using civil airliners as shield.”

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, during a special briefing on #OperationSindoor, revealed Pakistan’s irresponsible behaviour of not closing its civil airspace despite launching a “failed unprovoked drone and missile attack” on India.… pic.twitter.com/uFkia3o3bo

— Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) May 9, 2025

"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 IB between India and Pakistan," said Wing Commander Vyomika Singh during a special briefing on Operation Sindoor.