Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes against India in ongoing Kashmir conflict

The Indian army says Pakistan is continuing its “blatant escalation” of drone strikes along India’s western border, as the neighbouring countries extend their worst fighting in nearly three decades.

Pakistan said it had launched a military operation against India, targeting multiple bases including a missile base in the country’s north.

Multiple “enemy armed drones” spotted over the holy city of Amritsar in India’s border state of Punjab were “instantly engaged and destroyed” by Indian air defence units, the Indian army said in a post on X.

Pakistan’s offensive came shortly after it said India fired missiles at three air sites on Saturday, including one close to the capital, Islamabad, but Pakistani air defences intercepted most of them.

A civil administrator was killed and two others wounded by Pakistani shelling in a frontier town near the highly militarised Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the official was killed when a Pakistani shell hit his house in southern Rajouri town early ON Saturday.

Police said the official’s two staff members were critically injured in the incident.

Locked in a longstanding dispute over Kashmir, the two countries have engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched strikes against what it called militant bases inside Pakistan.

Pakistan vowed to retaliate.

Air base strikes

“[The] BrahMos storage site has been taken out …,” Pakistan’s military said in a message to journalists. 

They said the airfield in India’s western state of Punjab and the Udhampur Air Force Station in Indian Kashmir were also hit.

India’s defence did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Pakistan’s information minister said in a post on social media site X that the military operation was named “Operation Bunyanun Marsoos”, a term from the Koran that means a firm, united structure.

Sounds of explosions were reported in India’s Srinagar and Jammu, where sirens were sounded, a Reuters witness said.

“India, through its planes, launched air-to-surface missiles … Nur Khan base, Mureed base and Shorkot base were made targets,” Pakistani military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a televised statement.

One of the air bases is in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, just outside Islamabad, and the other two are in Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, which borders India.

The Pakistani military spokesperson said only a few missiles made it past its air defences, and those that did not hit any “air assets”.

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India has said its strikes on Wednesday, which kicked off the clashes between the countries, were in retaliation for a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Kashmir last month.

Pakistan denied India’s accusations that it was involved in the tourist attack.

Since Wednesday, the two countries have exchanged cross-border fire and shelling, and sent drones and missiles into each other’s airspace.

Sounds of explosions were also heard in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore and the north-western city of Peshawar, as the fighting threatened to spread.

At least 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides of the border that have not been independently verified.

Residents rush to bunkers

Punjabi resident Amanpreet Dhillon, 26, said many families in his village — just 13 kilometres from the border with Pakistan — had already sent women and children to safer areas.

“I am also contemplating it … I’m afraid my village could be next,” he said.

In Indian’s Kashmir’s Uri district, residents said many fled overnight after several houses were struck by shelling, some taking shelter behind rocks or in bunkers.

“The majority of the people fled the town and other villages as soon as shelling started last night with some taking shelter in underground bunkers.” 

“It was a nightmare for us.”

In the Pakistani city of Lahore, which lies near the border, residents were shaken on Thursday by drones that Pakistan said were launched by India and were shot down in the city. 

Schools were closed on Friday, and residents and shopkeepers said Lahoris were stocking up on food, gas cylinders for cooking, and medicine, prompting authorities to issue a notice warning businesses not to artificially increase prices.

“I have stocked grocer[ies] for a month. We got meat, flour, tea, oil, lentils et cetera and also drew extra cash from [the] bank,” said Aroosha Rameez, 34, a Lahore resident.

Muhammad Asif, 35, said his pharmacy had seen an influx of customers.

“People in Lahore have started stocking medicines as well, which may lead to shortages of paracetamol, anti-allergies, antibiotics, blood pressure and diabetes medicines,” he said.

Food delivery app FoodPanda, which is popular in Pakistan, said it had seen a surge in grocery orders nationwide.

Across the border, India’s Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution minister warned against panic buying food grains.

“We currently have stocks many times higher than the normal requirement, whether it is rice, wheat, or pulses … there is absolutely no shortage,” he said.

The prime minister’s office in Pakistani-administered Kashmir said more than 400 people had been evacuated by authorities in two areas near the line of control.

Other countries weigh in

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir on Friday and urged both Pakistan and India to find ways to de-escalate, a US Department of State spokesperson said.

Mr Rubio also offered US assistance in starting talks in order to avoid future conflicts, the spokesperson said.

The Group of Seven nations, known as the G7, comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, also urged India and Pakistan to have direct dialogue. 

“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 on Friday before the latest round of strikes.

Reuters/AP