India And Pakistan Trade Fire And Accusations As Fears Of A Wider Military Confrontation Rise | rssama.com

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — India fired onslaught drones into Pakistan connected Thursday, sidesplitting astatine slightest 2 civilians, nan Pakistani subject said. India, meanwhile, accused its neighbour of attempting its ain attack, arsenic tensions soared betwixt nan nuclear-armed rivals.

India acknowledged that it targeted Pakistan’s aerial defense system, and Islamabad said it changeable down respective of nan drones. India said it “neutralized” Pakistan’s attempts to deed subject targets. It was not imaginable to verify each of nan claims.

The exchanges came a time aft Indian missiles struck respective locations successful Pakistan, sidesplitting 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. New Delhi said it was retaliating aft gunmen killed much than 2 twelve people, mostly Hindu tourists, successful India-controlled Kashmir past month. India accused Pakistan of being down nan assault. Islamabad denies that.

Both sides person besides traded dense occurrence crossed their frontier successful disputed Kashmir, and Pakistan claimed it killed scores of Indian soldiers. There was nary confirmation from India.

Late Thursday successful Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents of nan metropolis of Jammu reported explosions and sirens, followed by a blackout.

India’s Headquarters of nan Integrated Defence Staff, a cardinal coordinating limb for each Indian equipped forces, said subject stations successful Jammu, Udhampur and Pathankot were targeted by Pakistan utilizing missiles and drones. It said nan attacks were repelled and nary casualties were reported.

Shesh Paul Vaid, nan region’s erstwhile director-general of police, told The Associated Press that nan Jammu Airport apt was besides nether onslaught and that immoderate of nan 50 large explosions he heard apt were because “our defense strategy is astatine work.”

Jammu and Udhampur are adjacent to nan Line of Control, nan de facto separator that divides nan Kashmir region betwixt India and Pakistan. Pathankot is successful India’s Punjab state.

Sirens were besides heard successful immoderate parts of nan region’s main metropolis of Srinagar, residents said. It was followed by blackout successful nan metropolis and different parts of nan region.

The state-run Pakistan Television denied reports of subject strikes successful Indian-controlled Kashmir, calling them “false, baseless, and fabricated.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to avenge nan deaths successful India’s rocket strikes, raising fears that nan 2 countries could beryllium headed toward another all-out conflict. Leaders from some nations look mounting nationalist unit to show spot and activity revenge, and nan heated rhetoric and competing claims could beryllium a consequence to that pressure.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday to nan Pakistani premier curate and India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, urging some sides to de-escalate nan situation, nan U.S. State Department said.

With tensions high, India evacuated thousands of group from villages adjacent nan highly militarized frontier successful nan region. Tens of thousands of group slept successful shelters overnight, officials and residents said Thursday.

About 2,000 villagers besides fled their homes successful Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Mohammad Iftikhar boarded a conveyance pinch his family connected Thursday arsenic dense rainfall lashed nan region. “I americium helplessly leaving my location for nan information of my children and wife,” he said.

India fires drones astatine Pakistan

India fired respective Israeli-made Harop drones astatine Pakistan overnight and into Thursday afternoon, according to Pakistani service spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, who said 29 were changeable down. Two civilian were killed and different wounded erstwhile debris from a downed drone fell successful Sindh province.

One drone damaged a subject tract adjacent nan metropolis of Lahore and wounded 4 soldiers, and different fell successful nan garrison metropolis of Rawalpindi, adjacent nan capital, according to Sharif. “The equipped forces are neutralizing them arsenic we speak,” he told state-run Pakistan Television.

In Lahore, section constabulary charismatic Mohammad Rizwan said a drone was downed adjacent Walton Airport, an airfield successful a residential area astir 25 kilometers (16 miles) from nan separator pinch India that besides contains subject installations.

India’s Defense Ministry said its equipped forces “targeted aerial defense radars and systems” successful respective places successful Pakistan, including Lahore.

Blackout successful Gurdaspur district

New Delhi, meanwhile, accused Pakistan of attempting “to prosecute a number of subject targets” pinch missiles and drones on nan Line of Control that divides Kashmir and elsewhere on their border. “The debris of these attacks successful now being recovered from a number of locations,” it said.

At a news briefing, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar connected Thursday rejected India’s declare that Islamabad carried retired immoderate onslaught successful Indian Punjab. “These accusations are an effort to incite anti-Pakistan sentiment among nan Punjabi Sikh organization successful India,” he said.

Seated alongside Dar, nan subject spokesperson, Sharif said Pakistan changeable down 29 Indian drones aft they violated its airspace.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that truthful acold Pakistan has not responded to India’s missiles attacks, but location will beryllium one. Later Thursday, Indian authorities ordered a night-time blackout successful Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, which borders pinch Pakistan.

The Harop drone, produced by Israel’s IAI, is 1 of respective successful India’s inventory, according to nan International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance report.

According to IAI, nan Harop combines nan capabilities of a drone and a rocket and tin run astatine agelong ranges.

The 2 sides person besides exchanged dense occurrence complete nan past day.

Tarar said that nan country’s equipped forces person killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers successful nan exchanges on nan Line of Control. India has not commented connected that claim. Earlier, nan service said 1 Indian worker was killed by shelling Wednesday.

Sikh Temple successful Kashmir

Tarar denied Indian accusations that Pakistan had fired missiles toward nan Indian metropolis of Amritsar, saying successful truth an Indian drone fell successful nan city. Neither declare could beryllium confirmed.

India’s Foreign Ministry has said that 16 civilians were killed Wednesday during exchanges of occurrence crossed nan de facto border.

Pakistani officials said six group person been killed adjacent highly militarized frontier successful exchanges of occurrence complete nan past day.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri denied that New Delhi has targeted civilians and a cardinal dam, arsenic Pakistan has alleged. He, successful turn, accused Pakistani forces of targeting civilians, including astatine a Sikh Temple successful Kashmir, wherever he said 3 Sikhs were killed.

Flights remained suspended astatine complete 2 twelve airports crossed bluish and occidental regions successful India, according to recreation advisories by aggregate airlines. Pakistan resumed flights nationwide aft a suspension astatine 4 airports, according to nan Civil Aviation Authority.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad; Saaliq reported from New Delhi and Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Associated Press writers Rajesh Roy successful New Delhi, and Ishfaq Hussain and Roshan Mughal successful Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.