INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
India fired attack drones into Pakistan on Thursday (May 8), with one injuring 4 soldiers, the Pakistani armed force stated, a day after
missiles struck several places and eliminated more than two dozen people.Several drones were shot down, officials said.Tensions between the
nuclear-armed neighbours have soared because gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Indian Hindu travelers, in India-controlled Kashmir last month
India accused Pakistan of being behind the attack
Islamabad denies that.Indian strikes on Wednesday eliminated 31 civilians, including women and children, according to Pakistani officials
More individuals were killed on both sides of the border in heavy exchanges of fire that followed
It was their worst conflict given that 2019, when the rivals came close to war.Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has promised to
strike back against the strikes, raising worries that the 2 nations might be headed toward another full-blown conflict.The relationship
between India and Pakistan has actually been shaped by dispute and shared suspicion, most significantly in their completing claims over the
Himalayan region of Kashmir
They have actually fought two of their 3 wars over Kashmir, which is divided in between them and claimed by both in its entirety.DRONES
FIRED AT PAKISTANIndia fired several Israeli-made Harop drones at Pakistan over night and into Thursday afternoon, according to army
spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif.Pakistani forces shot down 25, he said
A civilian was killed and another injured when debris from a downed drone fell in Sindh province.One drone harmed a military site near the
city of Lahore and wounded four soldiers, and another fell in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital, according to Sharif.The
armed forces are neutralising them as we speak, Sharif stated on the state-run Pakistan Television early Thursday afternoon.Indian drones
continue to be sent into Pakistan airspace ..
(India) will continue to pay a lot for this naked aggression, he added.Indias federal government said on Thursday that Pakistan had released
an air attack using drones and missiles overnight, before New Delhi struck back to destroy an air defence system in Lahore.Pakistan tried to
engage a number of military targets ..
using drones and missiles, the defence ministry stated in a statement, including that these were neutralised by Indias air defence
systems.The Harop drone, produced by Israels IAI, is among numerous in Indias stock, according to the International Institute for Strategic
Studies Military Balance report.According to IAI, the Harop combines the capabilities of a drone and a missile and can run at long ranges.In
Lahore, local cops official Mohammad Rizwan stated a drone was downed near Walton Airport, an airfield in a residential area about 25km from
the border with India that likewise contains military installations.Local media reported that 2 extra drones were shot down in other cities
of Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital.In Punjabs Chakwal district, a drone crashed into farmland
Authorities have secured the wreckage and are examining the drones origin and purpose.FEARS OF ESCALATING CONFLICTWith stress high, India
left countless individuals from villages near the 2 countries highly militarised frontier in Kashmir
Tens of countless individuals slept in shelters overnight, authorities and homeowners said Thursday.About 2,000 villagers likewise left
their homes in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.Mohammad Iftikhar boarded a lorry in Chakothi with his family on Thursday as heavy rain lashed
I am helplessly leaving my home for the safety of my kids and better half, he said.Flights stayed suspended at over 2 lots airports
throughout northern and western regions in India, according to travel advisories by several airline companies
Pakistan has suspended flights at 4 of its airports - Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Sialkot - according to the Civil Aviation
Authority.Indias foreign ministry stated that 13 civilians were killed and 59 injured the previous day throughout exchanges of fire across
An Indian soldier was also killed by shelling on Wednesday, according to the Indian army, taking the total verified deaths on the Indian
The foreign ministry stated that all those killed remained in the town of Poonch, with 59 others injured, the bulk also in the town.India on
Thursday braced for Pakistans threatened retaliation.In an editorial on Thursday, the Indian Express wrote there is no factor to believe
that the Pakistan Army has been chastened by the Indian airstrikes, adding that Indian military experts were aware that Pakistans militaries
are no pushover.Border districts on high alert, The Hindu newspaper headline read, adding that India needs to be gotten ready for escalatory
action by Pakistan.-Agencies
