Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar 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.
India’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fighting is the deadliest since a limited conflict between the two countries in Kashmir’s Kargil region in 1999.
INDIA ORDERS X TO BLOCK THOUSANDS OF ACCOUNTS
Meanwhile, social platform X in a statement on Thursday said the Indian government had ordered it to block users in the country from accessing more than 8,000 accounts, including a number of “international news organisations and other prominent users.”
The social platform did not release the list of accounts it was blocking in India, but said the order “amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.” Later, X briefly blocked access to the Global Affairs Account from which it had posted the statement, also citing a legal demand from India.
CRISIS DISRUPTS SCHOOLS, SPORTS AND TRAVEL
India’s biggest domestic cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, which attracts top players from around the world, was suspended for one week. Pakistan also moved its own domestic tournament to the United Arab Emirates because of the tensions.
Panic also spread during an evening cricket match in northern Dharamsala city, where a crowd of more than 10,000 people had to be evacuated from the stadium and the game called off, according to an Associated Press photographer covering the event.
Meanwhile, several northern and western Indian states, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Indian-controlled Kashmir, shut schools and other educational institutions for two days.
Airlines in India have also suspended flight operations from two dozen airports across northern and western regions. India’s Civil Aviation Ministry late on Thursday confirmed in a statement the temporary closure of 24 airports.
