India and Pakistan were getting closer earlier on Saturday, with the Pakistani military accusing India of attacking at least three of its air bases, and then reported that it had retaliated by targeting Indian air bases and a missile storage site.
The strike exchange was reportedly a sharp escalation between nuclear-weapon neighbors to four days, with armed confrontation beginning Wednesday.
Pakistan said India has targeted the base with air-to-surface missiles. Pakistan said that among the bases under attack, it is a key device near the capital Islamabad. Witnesses in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi reported at least three loud explosions near the Norhan Air Force Base, one of which described a “big fireball” seen from miles away.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Choudhury, chief spokesman for the Pakistani military: “Now, you are just waiting for our response.” He accused India of pushing the region to a “dangerous war.”
Shortly after the Indian strike, Pakistani officials said they launched retaliatory operations against several locations in India, including Udhampur and Pathankot Air Base and missile storage facilities.
“Eyes,” the Pakistani military said in a statement. It said it called its campaign against India “Operation Bunyan Al-Marsus”, which means a firm and compact structure.
Local media also reported that early Saturday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the National Command Agency – a neural center for Pakistan's nuclear command and strategic deterrence policy. The body was founded in 2000 and chaired by the Prime Minister and includes a senior civilian minister and military chief.
After days of shelling and drone attacks, old enemies of India and Pakistan have been engaged in their most extensive military conflict for decades. They are using new war tools to enhance their ability to attack and spy on each other.
On Friday, Indian defense officials said Pakistani troops were trying to conduct air invasions at 36 locations, including 300 to 400 drones testing India's air defense systems.
A day ago, Pakistani military officials said they had shot down 25 drones belonging to India, including Karachi and Rawalpindi, headquartered in Karachi and Pakistan's major intelligence agencies. Pakistani officials also told U.S. officials that India has engaged in “drone terrorism” by targeting civilian areas, a statement said. India has not commented on drones yet.
Although many countries now have drones in their arsenals, this is the first time that the two countries have used drones in confrontation with each other. The use of drone warfare may be inevitable, but it can reshape the way the world operates hostilities against India and Pakistan, just as the two countries did after becoming nuclear powers in the 1990s.
The conflict began last month when 26 people were killed in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of being attacked and vowed to take military action. Pakistan denies participation.
The conflict has escalated since India launched an air strike on Pakistan on Wednesday. Since then, the two countries have been locked in an intensified exchange of gunfire, drone attacks, claims, counterclaims and misinformation.
Diplomatic pressure, especially from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has not yet worked. The two countries largely overlooked the United States and Europe's voices calling for peace.
In a statement Friday, foreign ministers from seven industrialized countries urged “the biggest restrictions for India and Pakistan” and warned that “further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability”.
Raj Shukla, retired commander of the Indian army, said India has been building drone supplies. The so-called wandering ammunition, hovering over the target and strike at the best moment, “is actually a secret weapon in our armory; we have never used them before.”
In recent years, India and Pakistan have both developed their respective drone construction industries and have both imported drones from foreign allies. But both countries seem to be able to carry nuclear warheads, said James Patton Rogers, an autonomous war expert at Cornell University. Although he called the conflict “incredibly worrying”, he also noted that drones are often used as the lowest escalation step in conflict, often for pressure and testing opponents' air defenses.
The fight has since Wednesday morning, with Indian air strikes hitting inside Pakistan and the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir side. Pakistan said it fought back by defeating five Indian jets. On Thursday night, fierce fighting broke out along the 460-mile border that divided Kashmir's disputed area between India and Pakistan.
Jamu is a city in Kashmir's Indian-controlled side, and he has completely blacked out of power, but residents say they have seen drones and missiles fly over their heads and heard artillery fires. The shelling and gunfire along the border began Wednesday night and resumed on Thursday night, stopping on Friday morning.
Jamu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the city was also in a power outage on Friday night. Mr. Abdullah posted on X: “The intermittent sound of the explosion can now be heard from my location, probably heavy artillery.”
Both sides said civilians who died or were injured in gunfire exchanges. This information cannot be verified independently.
Residents in two districts of Kashmir spoke on Friday morning saying they were exhausted. Some say it was the worst shelling they have ever experienced in nearly three decades.
“We're having enough when every shelling starts,” said Atta Mohammad, a 70-year-old resident of the Kashmir Indian side. “It's better to have the two countries go on a nuclear war and kill us all. At least that will lift us out of this suffering.”
In the village of Bandli in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, hundreds of people gathered to attend the funeral of 26-year-old Usman Khalid, who were killed in a cross-border shelling.
“Several bombs and missiles have descended in our village,” said Bandli resident Tauqeer Ahmed. Ahmed added that many residents had stockpiled food and essentials and were unsure how long the tension would last.
Sarvan Singh Pandher, a farmer living in Punjab, about 12 miles from the Pakistani border, expressed concerns about the escalating and unpredictable nature of the conflict.
“The villagers will be short of food and money, so we should keep the ready-made stock and take the money from the bank,” Pande, 50.
There is no sign that any country is ready to decline.
When India announced an air strike in Pakistan on Wednesday and encountered nine locations identified as “terrorist infrastructure”, officials called the move “non-estimation” and calmed many people expecting things – perhaps after angry rhetoric from both sides.
However, Indian officials have repeatedly said the reaction will be “commendative”, meaning any upgrade will be upgraded with the upgrade.
Some analysts say India is a bit limited. Abhinav Pandya, founder of the Usanas Foundation, a foreign policy group based in India, said he hopes the conflict escalates in its current form, with both sides using drones.
Any escalation other than that would likely involve moving ground forces, which would be a “very risky situation” that introduced more casualties.
Pakistani military officials made a rebellious position at a press conference, indicating that the escalation was not over soon. “They sent drones; they received the appropriate response,” said Lieutenant Ahmed Sharif Choudhury, chief spokesman of the Pakistan Army. “So, in our choice of one, location and method, we will do everything we can. We will not look at anyone except the people of Pakistan.”
On Friday, the Indian military said it was using its volunteer reserves to mobilize thousands of soldiers to support the military operation.
Both countries suspended or moved their cash-rich cricket leagues out of security issues. The Indian Premier League is one of the richest sports competitions in the world, worth about $1 billion per game, and he said it has stopped playing for a week. Pakistan Premier League said it moved its remaining eight games to the United Arab Emirates with its remaining eight games.
India and Pakistan became separate countries in 1947, fighting three wars with Kashmir. One of them established the so-called control line that split with Kashmir in December 1971.
Elevated tensions put people on the edge.
“I have been stocking up rations such as rice, lentils and flour,” said Ajay Sharma, a physical therapist in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Mr Sharma said he also withdrew his cash from the bank. “While we have confidence in the military, in the case, people cannot predict what will happen,” he said.
Reported by Mujib Mashal,,,,, Hari Kumar,,,,, Suhasini Raj,,,,, Pragati KB,,,,, Lara Jakes,,,,, Showkat Nanda and Zia Ur-Rehman.
