At least 15 civilians were killed and over 50 others wounded Wednesday in clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, reported Xinhua, quoting local media.
The clashes started shortly after the Indian military carried out airstrikes inside Pakistan and the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir during the early hours on Wednesday.
According to state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR), 15 civilians were killed after Pakistani troops initiated artillery firing in frontier districts.
Officials said all the deaths were reported from the worst-hit Poonch district, 185 km southwest of Srinagar city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Forty people were also wounded and dozens of houses and vehicles were damaged.
Apart from this, 10 people, including five minor children, were wounded in cross-border shelling in the Uri sector of Baramulla district, while three others were wounded in Rajouri district.
Indian army officials said they were effectively responding to the shelling and firing from the Pakistani side.
Wednesday marks the 13th straight day of ceasefire violations on the LoC, according to the Indian side.
The Pakistani army said that 26 people, including women and children, were killed and 46 others injured when India attacked civilian settlements in six areas of Pakistan on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. In a retaliatory move, Pakistan Air Force shot down five Indian fighter jets, said an army official.
Indian media reported that three unidentified aircraft, two in Indian-controlled Kashmir and one in Punjab, were found crashed. So far, there are no official comments on the crashes.
Reports said over 200 flights were cancelled and 25 airports temporarily shut down across northern and western India on Wednesday due to the prevailing situation.
Meanwhile, mock drill exercises were conducted in several parts of India to evaluate civil defence preparedness. This was the first nationwide exercise at such a scale in the past several decades, according to media reports.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
