India, Pakistan Trade Fire, Accusations
India fired attack drones into Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least two civilians, the Pakistani military said.
India, meanwhile, accused its neighbor of attempting its own attack, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals.
India acknowledged that it targeted Pakistan's air defense system, and Islamabad said it shot down several of the drones. India said it "neutralized" Pakistan's attempts to hit military targets. It was not possible to verify all of the claims.
The exchanges came a day after Indian missiles struck several locations in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. New Delhi said it was retaliating after gunmen killed more than two dozen people, mostly Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir last month. India accused Pakistan of being behind the assault. Islamabad denies that.
Both sides have also traded heavy fire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir, and Pakistan claimed it killed scores of Indian soldiers. There was no confirmation from India.
Late Thursday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents of the city of Jammu reported hearing explosions and sirens.
~Snip~
New Delhi, meanwhile, accused Pakistan of attempting "to engage a number of military targets" with missiles and drones along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir and elsewhere along their border. "The debris of these attacks in now being recovered from a number of locations," it said.
At a news briefing, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday rejected India's claim that Islamabad carried out any attack in Indian Punjab. "These accusations are an attempt to incite anti-Pakistan sentiment among the Punjabi Sikh population in India," he said.
Seated alongside Dar, the military spokesperson, Sharif said Pakistan shot down 29 Indian drones after they violated its airspace.
~Snip~
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that so far Pakistan has not responded to India's missiles attacks, but there will be one. Later Thursday, Indian authorities ordered a night-time blackout in Punjab's Gurdaspur district, which borders with Pakistan.
~Snip~
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri denied that New Delhi has targeted civilians and a key dam, as Pakistan has alleged. He, in turn, accused Pakistani forces of targeting civilians, including at a Sikh Temple in Kashmir, where he said three Sikhs were killed.
Flights remained suspended at over two dozen airports across northern and western regions in India, according to travel advisories by multiple airlines. Pakistan resumed flights nationwide after a suspension at four airports, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
Commentary:
Based upon the previous 2008 Mumbai attack and many border clashes with Pakistan, India has been remarkably restrained considering this attack murdered 26 innocent people.
Meanwhile, India also has to keep enough muscle nearby for the possibility that China comes in from the other direction. Remember the times Chinese soldiers brazenly walked across the border into India?
Gordon Chang was recently speculating that China paid terrorists to start this war, as India is the one benefiting from the US trade war. Could be true. China does win in an India Pakistan war.
Interestingly, the Associated Presstitutes sow much less Bias and Disinformation, only slightly favoring the Muslim Terrorists over the enraged Indians.