India and Pakistan have accused each other of launching drone and artillery attacks overnight into Friday morning, with tourists and villagers fleeing what Reuters describes as the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly three decades. The escalation began after India struck several areas in Pakistan on Wednesday, targeting what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in retaliation for a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month. Reuters reports that sirens rang out in cities in Kashmir and beyond, with people being told to stay indoors as authorities suspended major cricket tournaments, including India's IPL and Pakistan's PSL, which has now moved matches to the UAE.
The clashes have already resulted in approximately 48 deaths since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates from both sides that haven't been independently verified. This confrontation marks another chapter in the long history of tensions between the two countries, which have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, with two of those conflicts centered on Kashmir, according to information from Reuters.
India's air force reported that Pakistan used Turkish drones to attack 36 locations across India's west and northwest regions, extending from Kashmir to areas bordering Pakistan near the Arabian Sea, as noted by US News. The Indian military claimed to have responded with its own drone strikes on targets in Pakistan, destroying one air defense system according to Indian Air Force officer Vyomika Singh. US News reports that Singh accused Pakistan of using commercial flights as "a shield" during the drone attacks by allowing airlines to operate on its side of the border, potentially to deter or weaken India's response.
Meanwhile, India's Border Security Force stated it had foiled a "major infiltration bid" in Kashmir's Samba region on Thursday night, with shells continuing to fall in the Uri area on Friday. According to US News, a security official who requested anonymity revealed that "several houses caught fire and were damaged in the shelling in the Uri sector... One woman was killed and three people were injured in overnight shelling." The situation appears equally dire on the other side, as officials in Pakistani Kashmir reported heavy shelling from across the border killed five civilians, including an infant, and wounded 29 others early Friday morning, information shared in the US News report.
The fog of war is thickening as both countries trade blame and accusations, with misinformation on social media deepening public unease on either side of the border, according to The Washington Post. In Jammu, the winter capital of Indian Kashmir that experienced drone attacks Thursday night, shops and businesses began closing at 5 p.m. on Friday, with streets largely empty as residents rushed home. The Washington Post reports that in neighboring Punjab state, authorities warned residents that sirens should be taken seriously, advising "Silence, darkness and discipline — these are the things that save lives." Sirens blared for more than two hours on Friday in the Punjab city of Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, though no attacks followed. Despite this, tourists fled the city by road as the airport was closed.
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