Pakistan has rejected Indian accusations of attacks on military bases amid escalating conflict between the two neighbours.
India's Integrated Defence Staff, the central coordinating body for all Indian armed forces, said military bases in Jammu, Udhampur and Pathankot had come under attack from Pakistan using missiles and drones. It said the attacks had been repelled and no casualties had been reported.
Shesh Paul Vaid, a former director general of police in the region, said the Jammu airport was also likely to have been attacked and that some of the 50 loud explosions he heard were likely due to “our defence system being operational”.
Jammu and Udhampur are close to the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan. Pathankot is in the Indian state of Punjab.
Sirens were also heard in parts of the region's main city of Srinagar, locals said, after which power was cut in the city and other parts of the region.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry in a statement rejected India's claims that Pakistan carried out attacks on Pathankot, Jaisalmer and Srinagar, saying “these allegations are completely baseless, politically motivated and part of a reckless propaganda campaign aimed at maligning Pakistan.”
The document also says that “such actions not only further threaten peace in the region, but also demonstrate an alarming willingness to use disinformation for political and military purposes.”
India launched attack drones into Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least two civilians, the Pakistani military said.
India has admitted to hitting Pakistan's air defences and accused the neighbouring country of attempting its own attack.
Islamabad said it shot down several drones, while India said it had “neutralized” Pakistan's attempts to hit military targets. Neither claim could be verified.
The exchange of strikes came a day after Indian missiles struck several targets in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians, Pakistani officials said.
New Delhi said it was retaliating after militants killed more than two dozen people, mostly Hindu tourists, in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month. India accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad denies.
The two sides also exchanged heavy fire across their border in disputed Kashmir, with Pakistan saying it had killed dozens of Indian soldiers. There was no confirmation from India.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to avenge the deaths caused by Indian missile strikes, raising fears that the two countries could be on the brink of another full-scale conflict. Leaders in both countries are facing growing public pressure to show strength and exact revenge, and heated rhetoric and contradictory statements could be a response to that pressure.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistan's Prime Minister and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday, urging both sides to de-escalate the situation, the State Department said.
Meanwhile, New Delhi accused Pakistan of trying to “hit a number of military targets” with missiles and drones along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir and elsewhere along the border.
“Debris from these attacks are currently being recovered from several locations,” the statement said.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar rejected India's claim that Islamabad had carried out any attack in Indian Punjab.
“These allegations are an attempt to stir up anti-Pakistan sentiments among the Punjabi Sikh population of India,” he said.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that Pakistan had not yet responded to India's missile attacks, but would. Later on Thursday, Indian authorities ordered an overnight power cut in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, which borders Pakistan.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
