Indian and Pakistani soldiers briefly exchanged fire along their highly militarized frontier in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, Indian officials said Friday, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals following a deadly attack on tourists.
India has described the massacre in which gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian, as a “terror attack” and accused Pakistan of backing it. Pakistan denied any connection to the attack near the resort town of Pahalgam in India-controlled Kashmir. It was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.
With the region on edge, three Indian army officials said that Pakistani soldiers fired at an Indian position in Kashmir late Thursday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy, said Indian soldiers retaliated and no casualties were reported.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the report.
Tensions rise
Tuesday’s attack in Kashmir was the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region. Since then, tensions have risen dangerously between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
On Wednesday, India suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty that has withstood two wars between the countries and closed their only functional land border crossing. A day later, India revoked all visas issued to Pakistani nationals with effect from Sunday.
Pakistan responded angrily that it has nothing to do with the attack, and canceled visas issued to Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines and suspended all trade with India. Nationals from both sides began heading back to their home countries through the Wagah border near Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Friday.
Islamabad also warned that any Indian attempt to stop or divert the flow of water would be considered an “act of war.” The suspension of the water treaty could lead to water shortages at a time when parts of Pakistan are already struggling with drought and declining rainfall.
Pakistan has also warned it could suspend the Simla Agreement — in what would be a major and worrying step. The peace treaty signed after the 1971 India-Pakistan war established the Line of Control, a highly militarized de facto border that divides Kashmir between the countries.
The United Nations has urged India and Pakistan “to exercise maximum restraint and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further.”
“Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully, through meaningful, mutual engagement,” the statement said Friday.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir. New Delhi describes all militancy there as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this, and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.
Residents and police in southern Kashmir said Indian soldiers detonated explosives in the family homes of two suspected militants they accused of being involved in Tuesday’s attack. In the past, Indian troops have demolished homes as a way to punish militancy in Kashmir.
Authorities say they are investigating two local men and two Pakistani nationals for their alleged involvement in the attack. Officials have not elaborated or shared any evidence.
“He left home three years ago. We haven’t seen him since and nothing was ever recovered from this house despite multiple raids,” said Afroza, the aunt of one of the local men accused, Asif Sheikh. The blast partially damaged the house in Monghama village that she shares with Sheikh’s parents and two sisters, including blowing out its windows. It also shattered windowpanes of several other homes.
“Even if he had done the attack, why blow up the house of a poor family,” Afroza, who like many women in Kashmir uses only one name, said as she wailed.
A police official and two residents in Guree village said a house there was also targeted by soldiers. The official insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with media while the two villagers feared reprisals from authorities.
Protesters take to the streets
Also Friday, hundreds of people rallied in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to denounce the suspension of the water-sharing treaty.
The demonstrators chanted slogans against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and burned his effigy before dispersing peacefully. Similar small rallies were also held elsewhere.
Pakistan’s Senate condemned the attack, while passing a resolution denouncing New Delhi’s attempt to link Islamabad to it and the suspension of the water treaty.
Hundreds of demonstrators also took to streets in India’s capital of New Delhi, where most markets were shut in protest against the killings. They demanded action against Pakistan.
“Now our patience has run out,” protester Surekha Sharma said. “Now we want revenge for this.”
