State-run Pakistan Television said Saturday that retaliatory attacks are underway after India fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan. It did not give details, and it was unclear which military locations in India were being targeted.
“Multiple locations in India are being targeted in the retaliatory attacks,” the state-run media reported.
India fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan but most of the missiles were intercepted, Pakistan’s army spokesman said Saturday. It’s the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a gun massacre last month that India blames Pakistan for.
Here is the latest:
The explosions on Saturday were heard in the disputed region’s two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.
“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard last two nights during drone attacks,” said Sheesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and a resident of Jammu. “It looks like a war here.”
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The Group of Seven nations, or G7, has urged “maximum restraint” from both India and Pakistan as hostilities flared.
“Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability. We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides,” a statement by Canada on behalf of G7 foreign ministers said Friday.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome,” the statement said.
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The Indian army said in a statement late Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations in Indian states bordering Pakistan and in Indian-controlled Kashmir, including region’s Srinagar main city.
It said the drones were tracked and engaged.
“The situation is under close and constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary,” the statement said.
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Syed Mohammad Ali, a defense analyst, says Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes after exercising maximum restraint.
He said Pakistan is using its ballistic missiles to hit those Indian military facilities from where India launched the latest attacks on Pakistan.
“The world knows that Pakistan exercised maximum restraint. We gave diplomacy a chance when friendly countries made efforts to defuse the situation, but India kept on indulging in aggression,” he said.
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