Article Summary
India and Pakistan exchanged artillery fire along their contested frontier on Wednesday, following Indian missile strikes on Pakistan in response to a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. The strikes mark a significant escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, with reports of casualties on both sides. The international community has urged both countries to exercise restraint and avoid further military escalation.
Original Post
India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery along their contested frontier on Wednesday, after New Delhi launched missile strikes on its arch-rival in a major escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Dead were reported on both sides. Pakistan said Indian strikes had killed at least eight people, and India said Pakistani artillery fire had killed three civilians along the de facto border in contested Kashmir.
New Delhi announced it had carried out ‘precision strikes at terrorist camps’ at nine sites in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, days after it blamed Islamabad for a deadly attack on the Indian-run side of the disputed region.
The Indian army said ‘justice is served’, with New Delhi adding that its actions ‘have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature’.
Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told AFP: ‘The retaliation has already started. We won’t take long to settle the score.’
He accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to ‘shore up’ his domestic popularity.
Islamabad reported eight civilians—including one child—killed in the strikes, which hit at least six locations.
Earlier, Pakistan’s military said three locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir had been hit along with two—Bahawalpur and Muridke—in the country’s most populous province of Punjab.
AFP correspondents in Pakistani-run Kashmir and Punjab heard several loud explosions.
Shortly after, India accused Pakistan of ‘indiscriminate’ firing and artillery shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in Kashmir, with bursts of flame as shells landed seen by AFP reporters.
‘Three innocent civilians lost their lives’, the Indian army said, adding it was responding in a ‘proportionate manner’.
India had been widely expected to respond militarily to the April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir by gunmen it said were from Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.
That assault left 26 people dead, mainly Hindu men, in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam. No group has claimed responsibility.
New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for backing the attack, sparking a series of heated threats and diplomatic tit-for-tat measures.
Pakistan rejects the accusations, and the two sides have exchanged nightly gunfire since April 24 along the LoC, according to the Indian army. Pakistan also said it has held two missile tests.
What This Means for You
- Increased tensions between India and Pakistan may lead to disrupted trade and travel in the region.
- Businesses and investors with exposure to the affected area should monitor the situation closely and evaluate potential risks to their operations.
- The international community’s response to the escalation will influence future relations between India, Pakistan, and the global community, potentially impacting diplomacy, trade, and security agreements.
Key Terms
- Kashmir
- India-Pakistan Relations
- Nuclear-Armed Neighbors
- Line of Control (LoC)
- Artillery Fire
- International Mediation
- Water Dispute
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