Claims have been circulating online since yesterday that the airspace over Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) was closed, while Indian and Pakistani fighter jets were patrolling over the Kashmir region on Monday night.

 

An Indian social media account on X (formerly Twitter) posted, “Kuch bada hone wala hai (something big is about to happen). Massive air activity over Srinagar for the last 30 minutes. Traffic lockdown … Amarnath Yatra suspended. High alert in Kashmir…”

 

Another account named The Jaipur Dialogue, citing locals, claimed that continuous aerial movement was happening in the Kashmir region. “Massive air activity reported over Srinagar, Kashmir in the last 30 minutes. Residents report continuous aerial movement, sources confirm unusual military air presence,” the post read on X on Monday.

 

Similar claims can be seen here, here, here and here.

 

Fact Check

 

The Current conducted a thorough investigation and research into the claims, unearthing that it originated from the Indian news outlet The Economic Times, which reported on its live feed on Monday at 11:08 pm that “Massive air activity for the last half an hour in Srinagar”.

 

Following the report, several netizens initiated sharing pictures of jets with the same caption: “Airspace over Jammu and Kashmir region closed, Indian and Pakistani jets have started patrolling.”

 

With both Islamabad and New Delhi yet to comment on the claim, journalist and TV host Ajmal Jami, citing military sources, took to X on Monday, writing, “All reports of Indian Airspace closed over IIOJK and air activity being spread by Indian accounts is fake. Everything is normal (sic).”

 

Verdict: The claim that Indian Airspace was closed over occupied Kashmir and Pakistani and Indian jets were patrolling over the region is false. There is no official confirmation from either side.