Explosions had been heard early Wednesday within the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, residents stated, two weeks after India vowed to retaliate towards Pakistan over a terrorist assault that killed greater than two dozen civilians.
Residents of Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani a part of the disputed territory of Kashmir, additionally reported listening to jets flying above. They stated {that a} web site in a rural space close to Muzaffarabad that was as soon as utilized by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group based mostly in Pakistan, appeared to have been focused within the strikes.
The blasts got here 15 days after militants opened fireplace on a bunch of vacationers within the Indian-administered area of Kashmir on April 22, killing 26 and injuring greater than a dozen others.
The bloodbath was one of many worst assaults on Indian civilians in many years, and India was fast to counsel that Pakistan, its neighbor and archenemy, had been concerned. The 2 nuclear-armed nations have fought a number of wars over Kashmir, a area that they share however that every claims in complete.
The Pakistani authorities has denied involvement within the assault, and India has introduced little proof to assist its accusations. Nonetheless, quickly after the onslaught, India introduced a flurry of punitive measures towards Pakistan, together with threatening to disrupt the flow of a major river system that provides it with water.
In Kashmir, Indian forces started a sweeping clampdown, arresting lots of, as they continued their hunt for the perpetrators. And India and Pakistan have repeatedly exchanged small-arms fire along the border in the days after the attack.
However the stories of strikes are an intensification of the battle that runs the danger of setting off an all-out battle that may very well be troublesome to comprise. The Pakistani authorities earlier vowed to reply in form to any Indian aggression, and each nations have the capability to inflict great injury.
Anupreeta Das contributed reporting.
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