India-Pakistan news: Troops exchange gunfire along contested border after air strikes escalate tensions
New Delhi insists 'very large number' of militants dead after raid, while Islamabad says it caused no deaths
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged gunfire over several sections of their contested border after disputed claims about an airstrike in a Pakistan-controlled sector of Kashmir.
New Delhi said its warplanes had killed “a very large number” of fighters when they struck a militant training camp on Tuesday morning, but Islamabad said the airstrike caused no deaths.
The overnight raid was the latest escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals since a deadly militant attack in the disputed Kashmir region earlier this month killed more than 40 Indian soldiers.
Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack but has vowed to respond to any Indian military operation against it.
The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility. The bomber, who made a video before the attack, was a resident of Indian Kashmir.
Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack
Show all 13Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, said the Indian “aircrafts” crossed into the Muzafarabad sector of Kashmir, which is split between the two countries but claimed by each in its entirety.
He said Pakistan scrambled fighters and the Indian jets “released payload in haste” near Balakot, on the edge of Pakistani-ruled Kashmir.
In a tweet, Pakistan’s governing Tehreek-e-Insaf party said: ”We realise it’s election year, and a desperation across the border. Fact of the matter is, Indian jets were forced to retreat in haste by Pakistan army patrols and dumped fuel, which in their scramble they thought was a bomb.”
India’s foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday that Indian fighter aircraft targeted Jaish-e-Mohammad camps in a pre-emptive strike after intelligence indicated another attack was being planned.
“Acting on intelligence, India early today struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot,” he said. “In this operation a very large number of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and Jehadis being trained were eliminated.”
Balakot police chief Saghir Hussain Shah told The Associated Press he had sent teams to the area where the Indian bombs reportedly hit, which he described as a mostly deserted wooded area.
“There are no casualties, there are no damages on the ground because of the dropping of the bombs,” he said.
The 14 February attack in Indian-ruled Kashmir was the worst attack on Indian forces since the start of the 1989 insurgency in Kashmir and came as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is in the middle of a re-election campaign.
Insurgents have been demanding either outright independence or union with Pakistan. India routinely accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants who cross the mountainous Himalayan region. In the last year an increasingly bloody crackdown on insurgents in Indian-ruled Kashmir has escalated tensions in the troubled region.
Kashmir has been the cause of two previous wars between the uneasy neighbours. They fought a third war in 1979 over East Pakistan, which gained its independence with the help of India and became Bangladesh.
Pakistan has outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed and seized its properties in south Punjab’s Bawahalpur area, including religious schools and mosques. India has demanded Jaish-e-Mohammad’s leader, Azhar Masood, be listed as a terrorist by the United Nations, but has been stymied by China.
Additional reporting by agencies
Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the unfolding events in the Kashmir region, as Pakistan and India row over the outcome of air strikes by the Indian military against targets in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Here's a useful summary of the events of the past few hours, as Pakistan promises to retaliate to any Indian "adventurism".
According to Pakistan's ruling party, prime minister Imran Khan has warned the country to be "prepared for all eventualities" and has convened a meeting of the National Command Authority, which overseas the country's nuclear arsenals.
Pakistan's top civilian and military leaders have rejected India's comments that it had struck "terror camps" inside Pakistan, and have vowed to prove the claims wrong, while warning it will retaliate to Indian aggression.
Pakistan's National Security Committee (NSC), comprising top officials including prime minister Imran Khan and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, said in a statement that it "strongly rejected Indian claim of targeting an alleged terrorist camp near Balakot and the claim of heavy casualties".
NSC said Mr Khan will "engage with global leadership to expose irresponsible Indian policy". It also warned that "Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing" to Indian aggression.
Indian news agency Asian News International cites government sources as telling it six bombs were dropped by Indian Air Force fighter jets on "terrorist camps" in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Villagers near the town of Balakot have claimed only one person was wounded in an attack by Indian fighter jets, and that they were unaware of any fatalities.
According to a Reuters report, they were shaken out of their sleep by what seemed like an earthquake in the early hours of Tuesday, only discovering once dawn broke there had been an Indian air strike on their neighbourhood.
Indian officials said the raid destroyed a training camp of Jaish-e- Mohammed, the militant group behind a suicide attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 members of a paramilitary police force on 14 February. India's foreign secretary said "a very large number of JEM terrorists" had been eliminated in what was the first Indian air strike on Pakistani territory since 1971.
A resident, who did not want to give his name, said there was a nearby madrasa run by Jaish, though most villagers were guarded talking about their militant neighbours.
"There is this madrasa on the hilltop. The Jaish-e-Mohammed runs it," he said.
Another person, who also declined to give his name said the militants had had a presence in the area for years.
"I belong to that area. I know for sure that there has been a training camp. It used to be there. I know Jaish people ran it," he said.
"This camp was turned into a madrasa several years ago, but no one would still be allowed to get close to this infrastructure. There are scores of students in the madrasa at any given time," he said.
Set in a wooded, hilly area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the way to the scenic Kaghan valley, some 40 kilometres from the de facto border with India, Balakot was of many towns that was devastated by as massive earthquake in 2005.
From what villagers could see, the Indian attack had missed its target as the bombs dropped exploded about a kilometre away from the madrasa.
Mohammad Ajmal, a 25 year-old villager near Jaba Top, where the attack took place, said he had heard four loud bangs in succession just before 3.00am.
"We couldn't tell what had happened. It was only in the morning that we figured out it was an attack," he told Reuters after visiting the site, in a wooded hilltop area.
"We saw fallen trees and one damaged house, and four craters where the bombs had fallen."
Fida Hussain Shah, a 46 year-old farmer, said he and other villagers had found pieces of Indian ordnance that had splintered pine trees on the hill but the only casualty was a man sleeping in his house when shrapnel broke the windows.
China, a close Pakistani ally, is calling for restraint from both Islamabad and New Delhi to prevent a larger crisis.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters that it was "conducive to peace and stability in South Asian for the two sides to maintain a good relationship and good communication".
Mr Lu says China hopes "both India and Pakistan can exercise restraint and take actions that will help stabilize the situation in the region and help to improve mutual relations".
Referring to India's claim that its airstrike targeted terrorists, Lu said combatting terrorism "is a global issue and a global challenge. It requires cooperation between countries".
India says it struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a group that claimed to have carried out the Feb. 14 suicide bomb attack on Indian troops in Kashmir.
In 2017, China joined several nations to declare the Pakistan-based group and another one, Lashkar-e-Taiba, as terrorist organizations, a move praised by India and the U.S. However, Beijing has blocked India's attempts to have Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Azhar Masood listed as a terrorist by the United Nations.
Pakistan Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor has claimed the bombing by Indian fighter jets left "no casualties" and that "no infrastructure got hit".
He earlier tweeted images of what appeared to show impact craters in the countryside.
India's prime minister Narendra Modi has said his country is in "safe hands", hours after India carried out an airstrike inside Pakistani-controlled territory.
Mr Modi, commenting on the early Tuesday strike, says that "today is a day to pay homage to India's brave hearts", — an apparent reference to 40 Indian soldiers killed in 14 February suicide bombing in India-controlled Kashmir.
Mr Modi spoke to a rally of former soldiers in the northern state of Rajasthan.
He said: "I vow that I will not let the country bow down."
The strike comes as India pressed on with its crackdown against Kashmiri leaders and activists seeking the end of Indian rule over its section of the divided territory. So far, India has arrested 400 in the campaign.
The crackdown has mainly targeted Jama'at-e-Islami, Kashmir's largest religious-political group that also espouses the right to self-determination for the Himalayan region.
Indian news agency Asian News International claims the Indian Army shot down a Pakistani reconnaissance drone early this morning in Gujurat.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies