Pakistani fighter jets violated airspace over Indian Kashmir on Wednesday but were forced back over the de facto border of the disputed territory, sources and local media said. Reports were also coming in that Srinagar airport on the Indian side of Kashmir was closed for three hours on Wednesday. Xinhua reported that an Indian fighter jet had crashed in Kashmir.
India and Pakistan exchanged fire along their contested border in Kashmir on Wednesday, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a war in 1971, while leading powers urged the nuclear armed rivals to show restraint.
Tensions have been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base.
The attack targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant, the group that claimed credit for the suicide attack. But while India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, Pakistani officials said the Indian air strike was a failure and inflicted no casualties.
On Tuesday evening, Pakistan began shelling using heavy calibre weapons in 12 to 15 places along the de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC), a spokesman for the Indian defence forces said on Wednesday.
“The Indian Army retaliated for effect and our focused fire resulted in severe destruction to five posts and number of casualties,” the spokesman said.
Five Indian soldiers suffered minor wounds in the shelling that ended on Wednesday morning, he added.
“So far there are no (civilian) casualties, but there is panic among people,” said Poonch district deputy commissioner Rahul Yadav said “We have an evacuation plan in place and if need arises we will evacuate people to safer areas”
Local officials on the Pakistani side said at least four people had been killed and seven wounded, though it was unclear if the casualties were civilian or military. India has also continued its crackdown on suspected militants operating in Kashmir, a mountainous region that both countries claim in full but rule in part. On Wednesday, security forces killed two Jaish militants in a gun battle, Indian police said.