The latest exchanges come a day after India said it hit “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday - two weeks after it accused the Islamic nation of involvement in an attack in Indian Kashmir in which 26 people - mostly Hindu tourists - were killed.
Pakistan shot down 25 Israeli-made drones from India at multiple locations, including the two largest cities of Karachi and Lahore, and their debris is being collected, Pakistan military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said.
One drone hit a military target near Lahore and four personnel of the Pakistan army were injured in this attack, Chaudhry said.
The Indian defence ministry said Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India on Wednesday night and early Thursday and they were “neutralised” by Indian air defence systems.
Pakistan also increased the intensity of its firing across the ceasefire line, the de facto border, in Kashmir and 16 people, including five children and three women, were killed on the Indian side, the statement said.
Both acquired nuclear weapons in the 1990s.
INDIA REITERATES WARNING
On Thursday, Indian government ministers told a meeting of political parties in New Delhi that the strikes on Pakistan had killed over 100 terrorists and that the count was still ongoing, government sources said.
Blackout drills were conducted in India’s border regions on Wednesday night.
Pakistan’s aviation authority “temporarily suspended” flight operations at airports in Lahore, Karachi, and the northeastern city of Sialkot until noon (0700 GMT). It did not give a reason for the suspension.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said New Delhi did not intend to escalate the situation. “However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response,“ he said at a India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting.
China urged both countries to act in the larger interest of peace and stability, with the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson saying that Beijing was ready to work with the international community “to avoid actions that further complicate the situation”.
The current escalation comes at a precarious time for Pakistan’s $350 billion economy, which is still recovering from an economic crisis that brought it to the brink of defaulting on external debt obligations in 2023 before it secured funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Pakistan says shot down 25 drones, India says it pushed back Pakistani retaliation )
Also on site :