The order to shut down several airports, including the ones in Srinagar and Jammu has been withdrawn.

The airports have been opened for civilian flights and flights to Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have resumed.

The order for shut down was issued a short while ago amid an escalation of hostilities with Pakistan.

NDTV quoting sources had earlier said the entire airspace north of Delhi has to be vacated.

Airports at Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pathankot, Amritsar, Shimla, Kangra, Kullu Manali, Pithoragarh, Dehradun, Jaisalmer were among those closed.

However, the airports and the areas have been put on high alert following warnings of retaliation from the Pakistani side after the Indian Air Force carried out strikes on terror bases in Pakistan early on Tuesday.

While the officials did not specify the nature of the emergency, it is believed the step to close the airports was taken in view of an IAF jet crashing in Budgam district this morning.

Officials said they received instructions from air traffic controllers that the airports have been shut for civilian flights.

Some of the flights en route to Jammu, Leh and Srinagar airports were diverted to their origin stations.

The flare-up in the cross-LoC shelling, which was initiated by Pakistani troops in early hours of Wednesday, has resulted in security forces and other establishments being put on a heightened alert.

The Indian Air Force has upgraded the security alert to the highest level. It has put all fighter bases on the high alert.

An IAF aircraft crashed on Wednesday in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing two people, officials said.

Following the crash, Pakistan claimed that it has shot down two Indian aircraft “inside Pakistani airspace” and that the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control in response to Pakistan Air Force strikes in the morning.

Major General Asif Ghafoor according to reports claimed that one of the aircraft fell in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and that the other fell in Jammu and Kashmir. He also claimed that one Indian pilot was taken into custody by troops on the ground.

PTI quoting Defence sources, however, said that there were no reports of any IAF jet suffering damage in action by adversaries.

Soon after, Pakistan too stopped its domestic and international flight operations from Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Islamabad airports.

International flights that transit between Indian and Pakistani airspace were affected. Some of the flights were returning to their origin, while others appeared to be seeking alternate routing, reports said.

Earlier in the day, three Pakistan Air Force jets violated the Indian airspace in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri sector and dropped bombs near the Indian Army post. However, they were immediately pushed back by Indian jets on air patrol.

Pakistan has claimed the “strikes across Line of Control from within Pak airspace”, saying its “purpose was to demonstrate the right to self-defence”.

Read | Day after IAF strike, Pakistan violates Indian airspace in J-K, cites right to self-defence

The escalation in tension between the two countries comes in the wake of India bombing the JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday, killing a “very large number” of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.

In a 21-minute offensive, 12 Mirage 2000 jets carried out the strike at around 3.30 am and dropped 1000 Kg bombs on terror camps, completely destroying it.