CLASHING ACCUSATIONS
India responded with drones on targets in Pakistan and destroyed one air defence system, Indian Air Force officer Vyomika Singh told a media briefing.
Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had dismissed earlier Indian accusations of Pakistani attacks as “baseless and misleading” and said Pakistan had not carried out any “offensive actions”.
In Pakistani Kashmir, officials said heavy shelling from across the border killed five civilians, including an infant, and wounded 29 others in the early hours of Friday.
The fighting is the deadliest since a limited conflict between the two countries in Kashmir’s Kargil region in 1999.
Sirens blared for more than two hours earlier on Friday in Amritsar, which houses the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs.
Tourists fled the city by road as the airport was closed.
“We really wanted to stay but the loud sounds, sirens, and blackouts are giving us sleepless nights. Our families back home are worried for us so we have booked a cab and are leaving,” said a British national who did not want to be named.
Schools and coaching centres were closed in the Bikaner region of India’s desert state of Rajasthan, and residents near the Pakistan border said they were told to consider moving in with relatives elsewhere or using government-arranged accommodation.
Further south in Bhuj in Gujarat, authorities said tourist buses were on standby in case they needed to evacuate people near the Pakistan border.
