India and Pakistan traded accusations of launching new military attacks on Friday. These attacks involved drones and artillery. This marked the third day of escalated fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors. It’s the worst fighting in nearly three decades.
The old enemies have been clashing since India struck multiple locations in Pakistan on Wednesday. India claimed these were “terrorist camps”. The strikes were retaliation for a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month.
Pakistan denied involvement in the attack. However, both countries have since exchanged cross-border fire and shelling. They have also sent drones and missiles into each other’s airspace. About four dozen people have died in the violence.
Villagers have fled border areas in both countries. Many cities have experienced blackouts. Air raid warnings and panic buying of essentials have also occurred. India has suspended its prestigious Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament after one match was stopped midway on Thursday. The floodlights were switched off during this time.
The fighting is the deadliest since a limited conflict in Kashmir’s Kargil region in 1999. India has targeted cities in Pakistan’s mainland provinces outside Pakistani Kashmir for the first time since their full-scale war in 1971.
The Indian army stated on Friday that Pakistani troops had resorted to “numerous cease fire violations” along the countries’ de-facto border in Kashmir. Both countries claim the region in full, despite it being divided between them.
The army declared, “The drone attacks were effectively repulsed and befitting reply was given to the CFVs (ceasefire violations)”. They added that all “nefarious designs” would be responded to with “force”.
Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called the Indian army statement “baseless and misleading”. He stated that Pakistan had not undertaken any “offensive actions” targeting areas within Indian Kashmir or beyond the country’s border.
In Pakistani Kashmir, officials reported that heavy shelling from across the border killed five civilians, including an infant, and injured 29 in the early hours of Friday.
India’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
India’s Border Security Force said a “major infiltration bid” was “foiled” in Kashmir’s Samba region on Thursday night. A security official, who remained unnamed, reported that heavy artillery shelling persisted in the Uri area on Friday.
The official reported, “Several houses caught fire and were damaged in the shelling in the Uri sector…one woman was killed and three people were injured in overnight shelling.”
Sirens blared for more than two hours on Friday in India’s border city of Amritsar. Amritsar houses the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, and residents were asked to remain indoors.
Hotels reported a sharp fall in occupancy as tourists fled the city by road. The airport was closed.
A British national, who did not want to be named, said, “We really wanted to stay but the loud sounds, sirens, and blackouts are giving us sleepless nights. Our families back home are worried for us so we have booked a cab and are leaving.”
Other border areas also took precautionary measures on Friday. In Bhuj, Gujarat, authorities said tourist buses had been kept on standby to evacuate residents near the Pakistan border.
Schools and coaching centers were closed in the Bikaner region of India’s desert state of Rajasthan. Residents near the Pakistan border were asked to move further away. They were advised to consider moving in with relatives or using accommodation arranged by the government.
India’s Directorate General of Shipping directed all ports, terminals and shipyards to increase security. This was due to “growing concerns regarding potential threats”.
Ansab, a student at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture, Science and Technology in India’s Jammu city, reported that the explosions were “more violent and louder” around 4 a.m. (2230 GMT Thursday). Blasts were heard overnight here.
“For two to three minutes it became very loud, windows started shaking as if they will break,” she said. She added the air was “smoggy” later.
World powers from the U.S. to China have urged the two countries to calm tensions. U.S. Vice President JD Vance reiterated the call for de-escalation on Thursday.
He stated in an interview on Fox News show “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” “We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can’t control these countries, though.”
The Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Friday.
Al-Jubeir was in India on Thursday and met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Jaishankar said he “shared India’s perspectives on firmly countering terrorism” with him.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament that Islamabad is “speaking daily” to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and China about de-escalating the crisis.
The relationship between Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan has been fraught with tension. This tension has existed since they became separate countries after attaining independence from colonial British rule in 1947.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, has been at the heart of the hostility. They have fought two of their three wars over the region.
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