NEW DELHI — At least three civilians were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, officials said, as India and Pakistan traded missile and drone strikes in what has become their most serious military confrontation in nearly three decades.
The fatalities occurred in Rajouri district, according to a hospital security official, following a series of blasts reported across the disputed Himalayan region. Pakistani officials said they launched a military operation early Saturday targeting several Indian military sites, including a missile storage facility in northern India.
Explosions were also reported in Poonch, where dust and smoke blanketed residential neighborhoods. In the towns of Uri and Jammu, local media shared images of charred shops and damaged homes reduced to rubble.
In Punjab state’s Amritsar district, residents discovered fragments of drones in a dry grassland after hearing loud blasts in the early morning hours.
India’s military responded by accusing Pakistan of “blatant escalation,” stating that Pakistani forces had continued to carry out drone attacks and shelling along the western border.
Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan, an explosion was reported early Saturday at the Nur Khan Air Force Base in Rawalpindi, roughly 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the capital, Islamabad. Eyewitness video, verified by Reuters, showed a projectile approaching the base followed by a bright flash and a plume of smoke. Pakistani officials later said India had fired missiles at three air bases, including Nur Khan, but that most had been intercepted by the country’s air defense systems.
The surge in hostilities began Wednesday when India carried out airstrikes inside Pakistan, claiming it was targeting militant infrastructure following a deadly attack in India-controlled Kashmir last month that killed 26 civilians, most of them tourists. Pakistan denied involvement and vowed retaliation.
Since then, the two nuclear-armed neighbors — who have fought multiple wars, including two over Kashmir — have been locked in near-daily exchanges of fire and escalating aerial assaults.
The latest developments have raised concerns of a broader regional conflict. International calls for de-escalation have intensified, but both governments have so far signaled little willingness to back down.
