India-Pakistan clash escalates with missile strikes on bases: ‘looks like a war here’
Pakistan reports Indian missile strikes, triggering retaliatory action
Pakistan said India fired missiles at three airbases inside the country on Saturday, but most of the missiles were intercepted and that retaliatory strikes on India were under way. It’s the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a massacre last month that India blames Pakistan for.
The Pakistani military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and airbases in Pathankot and Udhampur.
Residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir say they heard loud explosions at multiple places in the region, including 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.”
Pakistani army spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif, said in a televised address that the country’s air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes. He added that some of the Indian missiles also hit India’s eastern Punjab.
“This is a provocation of the highest order,” Sharif said.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.
The Indian missiles targeted Nur Khan airbase in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Murid airbase in Chakwal city and Rafiqui airbase in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to the spokesman. There was no immediate comment from India.
Sharif said some of the Indian missiles also went into Afghanistan.
“I want to give you the shocking news that India fired six ballistic missiles from its city of Adampur,” said Sharif. One of the ballistic missiles hit Adampur, the remaining five missiles hit the Indian Punjab area of Amritsar.”
The Indian army said late on Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across many areas in Indian states bordering Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, including the region’s main city of Srinagar. 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 added.
The G7 group of nations on Friday called for “immediate de-escalation” and “maximum restraint” in the conflict between the neighbours.
“Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability,” the foreign ministers of the seven wealthy democracies said in a statement, adding that both sides should “engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome”.
On Wednesday, India conducted air strikes on several sites in Pakistani territory it described as militant-related, killing 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets.
On Thursday, India said it thwarted Pakistani drone and missile attacks on military targets in more than a dozen cities and towns, including Jammu city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan denied that it carried out drone attacks. India said, meanwhile, that it hit Pakistan’s air defence systems and radars close to the city of Lahore. The incidents could not be independently confirmed.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
