The government of Pakistan's Punjab province has ordered all schools to remain shut on 9 and 10 May, according to an official notification.

The release adds that examinations such as O-level and A-level, being held by international organisations, will continue as scheduled.

Pakistan's airport regulator has said all flight operations from Karachi airport will remain suspended until midnight due to "operational reasons".

Earlier, Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) had announced suspension of flights until 18:00 local time.

Mohammad Sikandar, a stranded passenger, told the Associated Press that he was supposed to travel to the UAE, but learnt on arrival at the airport that his flight had been cancelled.

"The authorities said they will contact me after five-to-six days if flights are restored," he said.

Here are a few things Mr Misri did not address:

• Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar earlier claimed that Pakistani forced had killed 50 Indian soldiers. Mr Misri wasn't asked this question and he didn't talk about this.
• He was asked about Pakistan's claims that it shot down five Indian jets - but he didn't answer the question directly. He said official information on this topic will be shared at the right time.
• Some Indian media reports have claimed that 100 militants were killed in yesterday's air strikes in Pakistan, but he didn't address these claims. He added that only 36 hours had passed since the air strikes and asked the media to wait for more details.
• India has claimed that it has "neutralised" an air defence system in Lahore in Pakistan. When asked if there were other such systems that were targeted by India, he said he wouldn't go into operational details. (Pakistan has, meanwhile, denied that its air defence system in Lahore was hit.)

Mr Misri accused Pakistan of targeting the Sikh community in Poonch in Indian-administered Kashmir.

He added that three people from the community died when a gurdwara in the district was hit by shelling from Pakistan.

Pakistan is yet to comment on this specific claim.

Here's more from Indian Foreign Secretary Mr Misri:

• All our air strikes were against "carefully selected terror targets"
• Targets chosen were locations connected to "incidents of cross-border terror in India and terrorist infrastructure"
• Pakistan has been "using religious sites as a cover to train terrorists"

As we reported earlier, Pakistan has denied any links to the 22 April tourist attack and that it had any terrorist infrastructure on its soil.

Mr Misri has once again repeated India's position that it holds the Resistance Front (TRF) responsible for the Pahalgam attack.

He said the TRF was a front for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, which is designated as terrorist by United Nations.

Pakistan has denied that it allowed any group to use its soil to launch attacks against India.

Mr Misri says Pakistan's claim that the air strikes damaged the Neelam-Jhelum dam is a "blatant lie" and that India has only struck at what he described as "terrorist infrastructure".

Col Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh have reiterated the points that India made in a statement earlier today.

And now Foreign Secretary Mr Misri is speaking - he begins by saying he wants to address the disinformation around the ongoing situation.

He says he would like to remind everyone that India is not looking to escalate matters, but that the deadly attack of 22 April is the "original escalation".

And yesterday's air strike, he added, was a response to that escalation.

"We are not escalating matters, we are responding to the original escalation," he said.

India is now holding a press briefing. Like yesterday, the speakers are Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

We'll bring you updates from there shortly.

Operation Sindoor is the codename given by India to the air strikes it conducted against Pakistan on the intervening night of Tuesday into Wednesday.

Delhi said it struck nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to last month's deadly Pahalgam attack on Indian tourists and added that they were "terrorist infrastructure" sites in Pakistan. Islamabad said only six sites were hit and rejected Delhi's allegation that it harbours militants. It also vowed to retaliate.

In India, the choice of the name Operation Sindoor has been widely welcomed by citizens and political parties. It is being seen as a symbolic tribute to the women widowed in the Pahalgam attack in which 26 men were killed.

In Hindu tradition, sindoor, or vermilion powder, is worn by married women in their hair parting or on their foreheads. It is typically removed when a woman becomes a widow, making it a symbol of loss.

A government-released image of the operation's name shows one of the Os in sindoor replaced by a small bowl with some red powder in it.

"It evokes the image, seared into our national consciousness, of the newly-widowed bride, kneeling and weeping by the side of her assassinated husband of six days in Pahalgam - the entire reason why Operation #Sindoor was necessary," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on X.

Archana Shukla
India business correspondent

Markets in India and Pakistan have closed in the red amid escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

In Mumbai, India's benchmark stock market indices - the Sensex and Nifty - fell around half a percent in trade.

In Pakistan, trading at the Karachi Stock Exchange was halted during the day as stocks plunged sharply - its benchmark index the KSE100 lost more than 6% in trade.

There was palpable nervousness in the currency market as well with the Indian rupee slipping more than a percent against the US dollar, the most in more than three years.

Investors have turned edgy as both countries have accused each other of drone strikes, a day after Indian missiles struck Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Image source, Reuters

Devina Gupta
Reporting from Poonch, Indian-administered Kashmir

Image source, Aamir Peerzada/BBC

The walls have gaping holes, the ceiling is missing chunks of cement, a fan is missing a blade and utensils and other household items are strewn on the floor.

This is what a house in Poonch - a district that lies along the Line of Control, the de-facto border between India and Pakistan - looks like.

Poonch is among the border districts in Indian-administered Kashmir that have been most-affected by cross-border shelling.

India says that over the past 14 days - since the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam - Pakistan has repeatedly violated a ceasefire agreement, targeting Indian positions along the border, leading to 16 deaths. Islamabad has not commented on this.

Image source, Aamir Peerzada/BBC

“I was with my wife and children when there was a loud blast. We all fell on the floor. I was hit on my chest with glass pieces,” says 48-year-old Mehtab Din. This took place on Tuesday night and locals say artillery shelling from Pakistan has intensified after India launched a series of air strikes against Islamabad early Wednesday morning.

After receiving treatment from a local hospital, Mehtab Din is back in his home in Poonch. But many of his neighbours have fled to safer areas. Locals told the BBC that a majority of the estimated 40,000 people living in Poonch have left.

I ask Mehtab Din if he would like to leave too.

"Where will we go? We run a small business and can’t leave everything behind. This home is our dream, how can we live without it?" he says.

He plans to cover the holes in the walls with bedsheets until he can get someone to repair them.

Image source, Getty Images

An IPL cricket match scheduled for Sunday in India's northern city of Dharamsala has been moved to the western Ahmedabad city.

The match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians will now be held in Ahmedabad on Sunday afternoon, secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association, Anil Patel, told local media.

There was some uncertainty around this match as Dharamsala airport is among more than 20 that have been closed until 10 May.

Authorities, however, said that today's IPL cricket match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, scheduled to be played at the Dharamsala stadium, will go ahead as planned. Both teams had reached Dharamsala for training a few days ago.

India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar talked about the air strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir while welcoming Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Delhi.

The two countries are marking 75 years of the India-Iran Friendship Treaty. Watch the video to hear what he said.

Satellite pictures released on Wednesday evening by Maxar Technologies show damage at two known locations in Pakistan that were struck by the Indian army.

The imagery - taken before and after the strikes - show visible damage at both Bahawalpur and Nangal Sahdan in the Pakistani province of Punjab.

Image source, Maxar Technologies

In Bahawalpur, three out of five domes on the roof of the Subhan Allah Mosque, on the city’s western outskirts appear damaged. Nearby buildings, about 165m to the northeast, also show signs of impact.

Image source, Maxar Technologies

In the small town of Nangal Sahdan, the imagery shows two buildings around 150m apart that have been hit. One appears partially damaged, while the other seems to have been completely destroyed.

The European Union (EU) has called on India and Pakistan "to exercise restraint, to de-escalate tensions and desist from further attacks to safeguard civilian lives on both sides" in a statement.

EU said its member states condemned last month's deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. "Terrorism can never be justified. Those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice," it said. "Every state has the duty and the right lawfully to protect its citizens from acts of terror."

The bloc said it was monitoring with great concern "the growing tensions in the region and the ensuing consequences, including the possible loss of more lives".

"The EU urges both sides to engage in dialogue," the statement said. "It is vital that India and Pakistan also live up to their obligations under international law and take all measures possible to protect civilian lives."

The EU said it would work with all parties to de-escalate the situation.

India says 16 people, including three women and five children, have died due to Pakistani firing since Wednesday morning. The earlier death toll was 15.

In the statement that we were reporting from earlier, India said that Pakistan "has increased the intensity of unprovoked firing" across the Line of Control - the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

It said Islamabad was using mortars and heavy calibre artillery in areas in Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar and Rajouri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir - and that the Indian army had responded to halt this mortar and artillery fire.

The US consulate general in Lahore has directed all personnel to "shelter in place", citing reports of "drone explosions" and "possible airspace incursions" in and near Lahore.

"The Consulate has also received initial reports that authorities may be evacuating some areas adjacent to Lahore’s main airport," a statement published on the consulate website read, external.

They have advised US citizens who "find themselves in areas of active conflict" to leave safely if possible, and to shelter in place if not.

The Indian statement adds it targeted Air Defence Radars and systems across "a number of locations" in Pakistan.

"It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised," it said.

The statement does not give more details about how India targeted the systems. But as we have been reporting, Pakistan has claimed it shot down 25 Indian drones since last night. And India claims that Pakistan sent "drones and missiles" to a number of places in India.

India has just issued a statement saying that it neutralised attempts by Pakistan on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday to "engage a number of military targets" in northern and western India using "drones and missiles".

We're bringing you more details from there...