As the conflict escalates, India, Pakistan trade fires in Kashmir – Country
Pakistani military said India fired an attack drone to Pakistan on Thursday, injuring four soldiers. Meanwhile, India accused its neighbors of attempting attacks as tensions surged among nuclear weapons competitors.
India admits it targets Pakistan's air defense system, and Islamabad says it shot down several drones. India said it was “neutralized” Pakistan attempted to hit military targets. It is impossible to verify all claims.
According to Pakistani officials, the day after Indian missiles hit several sites in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians. New Delhi said that in India-controlled Kashmir last month, gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, in retaliation. India accused Pakistan of being attacked. Islamabad denies this.
Both sides also crossed their border fires in the disputed Kashmir side, with Pakistan claiming it killed dozens of Indian soldiers. India has not confirmed.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to avenge the death of the Indian missile strike, which raised concerns that the two countries might move towards another full-scale conflict. Leaders from both countries face public pressure to show strength and seek revenge, and intense rhetoric and competitive propositions may be a response to this pressure.
The relationship between the states is due to the influence of conflict and mutual suspicion, most notably their disputes over Kashmir. They fought two of three wars in the Himalaya region, which were distributed between them and were all claimed.
India evacuated thousands of people from villages near the highly militarized border in the region due to high tensions. Tens of thousands fell asleep in the shelter overnight, officials and residents said Thursday.
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About 2,000 villagers also fled Pakistan-managed Kashmir.
Mohammad Iftikhar boarded a car with his family on Thursday, and heavy rain slammed the area. He said: “For the safety of my children and my wife, I left the house helplessly.”
India launches drone to Pakistan
India drove several Israeli-made Hap UAVs in Pakistan overnight to Thursday afternoon, according to Pakistan Army spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif.
He said Pakistani troops shot down 25 people. When debris from a shot-down drone from Sindh fell, one civilian was killed and another injured.
According to Sharif, a drone damaged a military site near the city of Lahore and injured four soldiers, while another landed in Rawalpindi, near the capital.
“The armed forces are getting in touch with them,” Sharif said on state-run Pakistan TV on Thursday afternoon.
In Lahore, local police official Mohammad Rizwan said a drone near Walton Airport, a residential airport about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the border with India, also contains military devices.
The Indian Ministry of Defense said its armed forces had “targeted air defense radars and systems” in multiple places in Pakistan, including Lahore.
Meanwhile, India accused Pakistan of trying to “engage with many military targets” along Kashmir and elsewhere in the border.”
“The debris of these attacks are now being recovered from many places,” it said.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that so far Pakistan has not responded to India’s missile strikes, but there will be responses in due course.
According to the Military Balance Report of the International Institute of Strategic Research, Harop drones produced by Israel’s IAI are several of the items in India’s stockpile.
According to IAI, Harop combines the functions of drones and missiles and can operate for a long time.
Over the past day, the two sides exchanged fires.
Pakistan's Information Minister Tarar said the country's armed forces killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers during exchanges on the Line of Control.
India has not commented on the claim yet. The Army said earlier that an Indian soldier was killed by artillery on Wednesday.
Tarar denied India's accusation that Pakistan fired missiles into the Indian city of Amritsar, which was actually an Indian drone that fell in the city. Neither can be confirmed.
In fact, 16 civilians were killed during a fire across the border on Wednesday, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Pakistani officials said six people were killed near the border of the war in the past day.
More than 20 airports in northern and western India are still suspended, according to travel consultations from multiple airlines. According to the Civil Aviation Authority, Pakistan has suspended flights at its four airports (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Sirkot).
– Report from Islamabad; Saaliq reported on New Delhi. Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussein is located in Srinagar, India, Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, and Ishfaq Hussain and Roshan Mughal of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan contributed to the report.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
