JAMMU/ISLAMABAD: Blasts rang out across Indian Kashmir and the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in neighbouring Punjab state late on Friday, with the Indian military saying it was shooting down drones in the worst fighting with Pakistan in nearly three decades.
The explosions in Amritsar – the first heard there in the three-day-old conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours – could mark a further expansion in the hostilities that have alarmed world powers.
Ten blasts were heard near the airport in the Indian Kashmir city of Srinagar and there were explosions in more locations in the contested region, other security officials added.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan. It had dismissed Indian accusations that it launched attacks on the same area on Thursday night.
The old foes have been clashing since India struck several areas that it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan on Wednesday in retaliation for a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month.
involved in the tourist attack. The two countries have exchanged cross-border fire and shelling, and they have sent drones and missiles into each other’s airspace.
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides of the border that have not been independently verified. The Indian army said on Friday a family was severely injured by an armed drone in Ferozepur in India’s Punjab state near the Pakistani border.
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