Azad Kashmir says India's cross-border shelling killed 31 in last four days
Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged heavy fire along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing the disputed Himalayan Kashmir territory between India and Pakistan, since tensions escalated last month.
Tensions surged between the nuclear-armed neighbors this week when India fired missiles at what it said were 'terrorist' camps in Pakistan, killing several people. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for an Apr. 22 attack at a tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26, charges that Islamabad denied. Pakistan said Indian strikes on Wednesday killed several civilians, vowing retaliation.
Pakistan's military launched retaliatory strikes against India on Saturday morning in response to what it said were drone and missile strikes on Pakistani air bases during the wee hours of Friday. Both countries have since then agreed to a ceasefire brokered by the United States and encouraged by other countries.
'Thirty-one people were killed in Azad Kashmir's ten districts during the last four days during the India-Pakistan war,' Azad Kashmir's State Disaster Management Authority said in a situation report.
Giving a breakdown of the figures, the report said 11 people were killed in Kotli district while six each died in districts Bhimber and Poonch. Three people were killed in Muzaffarabad district while two were killed in Neelum.
The report said 287 houses and 21 shops were damaged due to shelling in the past four days while 22 cattle were killed.
Within hours of the ceasefire announcement on Saturday, India accused Islamabad of violating it by targeting Srinagar city in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan's Information Minister Ata Tarar denied the allegation, saying people in his country were celebrating the end of the conflict and the government remained committed to the agreement.
The foreign office of Pakistan also maintained the country remained committed to the 'faithful implementation' of the ceasefire.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
11 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
At least 11 killed as Israel bombards Gaza City in overnight attacks
Israeli planes and tanks kept bombarding eastern areas of Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people, witnesses and medics said on Tuesday, with Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya arriving in Cairo for talks to revive a US-backed ceasefire plan. The latest round of indirect talks in Qatar ended in deadlock in late July with Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas trading blame over the lack of progress on a US proposal for a 60-day truce and hostage release deal. Israel has since said it will launch a new offensive and seize control of Gaza City, which it captured shortly after the war's outbreak in October 2023 before pulling out. Hamas' meetings with Egyptian officials, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, will focus on ways to stop the war, deliver aid, and 'end the suffering of our people in Gaza,' Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, expected to be launched in October, has increased a global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger afflicting Gaza's 2.2 million people. It has also stirred criticism in Israel, with the military chief of staff warning it could endanger surviving hostages and prove a death trap for Israeli soldiers. It has also raised fears of further displacement and hardship among the estimated one million Palestinians in the Gaza City region. Foreign ministers of 24 countries including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said on Tuesday the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached 'unimaginable levels' and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid into the enclave. Israel denies responsibility for hunger in Gaza, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including pausing fighting for parts of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. Ceasefire A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediated ceasefire talks said Hamas was prepared to return to the negotiating table, and the leaders who were visiting Cairo on Tuesday would reaffirm that stance. 'Hamas believes negotiation is the only way to end the war and is open to discuss any ideas that would secure an end to the war,' the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters. However, the gaps between the sides appear to remain wide on key issues, including the extent of any Israeli military withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm. Disarmament conditions A Hamas official told Reuters on Tuesday the militant group was ready to relinquish Gaza governance on behalf of a non-partisan committee, but it would not relinquish its arms before a Palestinian state is established. Netanyahu, whose far-right ultranationalist coalition allies want an outright Israeli takeover of all of Gaza, has vowed the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated. On Tuesday, Gaza's health ministry said that 89 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Witnesses and medics said Israeli bombardments overnight killed seven people in two houses in Gaza City's Zeitoun suburb and another four in an apartment building in the city center. In the south of Gaza, five people, including a couple and their child, were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in the city of Khan Younis and four others by a strike on a tent encampment in nearby coastal Mawasi, medics said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of the latest bombardments and that its forces take precautions to mitigate civilian harm. Separately, it said its forces had killed dozens of militants in north Gaza over the past month and destroyed more tunnels used by militants in the area. More deaths and starvation Five more people, including two children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said. The new deaths raised the number of deaths from the same causes to 227, including 103 children, since the war started, it added. Israel disputes the malnutrition fatality figures reported by the health ministry in the enclave, figures that have been confirmed by international humanitarian organizations. Israel has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to local health officials. The figures have been confirmed by the UN.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Zelensky says Putin wants the rest of Ukraine's Donetsk region as part of a ceasefire
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30 percent of the Donetsk region that it controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected. Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine would not withdraw from territories it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion. He said diplomatic discussions led by the US focusing on ending the war have not touched on security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent future Russian aggression and that meeting formats currently being discussed do not include Europe's participation, both key demands of Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russian forces on the ground have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk. Zelensky said the necessity of territorial concessions was conveyed to him by US officials ahead of a summit Friday between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and in further meetings at the level of national security officials. It remained unclear whether Ukraine would take part in the Friday summit. European Union leaders also have been sidelined from the meeting, and they appealed to Trump on Tuesday to protect their interests. Zelensky says Ukraine will not withdraw from the Donbas Zelensky said Putin wants the remaining 9,000 square kilometers (3,500 square miles) of Donetsk under Kyiv's control, where the war's toughest battles are grinding on, as part of a ceasefire plan, in a press briefing on Tuesday in Kyiv. Doing so would hand Russia almost the entirety of the Donbas, a region comprising Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted. Zelensky learned of Russia's position after holding a call with Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff, after the latter's bilateral meeting with Putin. Witkoff told Zelensky that Russia was ready to end the war and that there should be territorial concessions from both sides. Some European partners were also part of the call. 'And that, probably, Putin wants us to leave Donbas. That is, it didn't sound like America wants us to leave,' he said, recounting the call. Zelensky reiterated that withdrawing from Ukraine-controlled territory was out of the question, especially as the question of security guarantees for Ukraine, were not being discussed. 'We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do this. Everyone forgets the first part — our territories are illegally occupied,' Zelensky told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. 'Donbas for the Russians is a springboard for a future new offensive.' Zelensky said this is what occurred in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Seeking Trump's ear before the summit Trump has said he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year. The US president has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender. The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia's energy might to try to intimidate the EU, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them. Referring to the format for ceasefire talks, Zelensky said on Tuesday that the US proposed a bilateral meeting, between the US and Russia, and then a trilateral meeting that would include Ukraine. Zelensky said the presence of Europe was important for Kyiv because these were the only partners offering security guarantees, including funding the Ukrainian army. European countries' overarching fear is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine. Their leaders said Tuesday they 'welcome the efforts of President Trump toward ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.' But, they underlined, 'the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine' and 'international borders must not be changed by force.' The Europeans on Wednesday will make a fresh attempt to rally Trump to Ukraine's cause at virtual meetings convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump did not confirm whether he would take part but did say 'I'm going to get everybody's ideas' before meeting with Putin. Russia holds shaky control over four of the country's regions, two in the country's east and two in the south. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of Zelensky's office, said anything short of Russia's strategic defeat would mean that any ceasefire deal would be on Moscow's terms, erode international law and send a dangerous signal to the world. A 'profoundly alarming moment for Europe' Trump's seemingly public rehabilitation of Putin — a pariah in most of Europe — has unnerved Ukraine's backers. The summit in Alaska is a 'profoundly alarming moment for Europe,' said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. According to Gould-Davies, Putin might persuade Trump to try to end the war by 'accepting Russian sovereignty' over parts of Ukraine, even beyond areas that it currently occupies. Trump also could ease or lift sanctions which are causing 'chronic pain' to the Russian economy. That would provoke a 'really serious split in the transatlantic alliance,' he said. The war isn't about Russia's territorial expansion but about Putin's goal of subordinating Ukraine, which would create the opportunity to threaten other parts of Europe, Gould-Davies said. It was unclear whether the Europeans also were unsettled by Trump mistakenly saying twice he would be traveling to Russia on Friday to meet Putin. The summit is taking place in the US state of Alaska, which was colonized by Russia in the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the US in 1867. Tuesday's European joint statement was meant to be a demonstration of unity. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin's closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, was the only one of the bloc's 27 leaders who refused to endorse it. Russia closes in on Pokrovsk Russia appeared closer to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, Pokrovsk. Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles said the next 24-48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit. It also would complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts. 'A lot will depend on availability, quantity and quality of Ukrainian reserves,' Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, wrote on social media late Monday. Ukraine's military said its forces are fending off Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The region's Ukrainian military command on social media Monday acknowledged that the situation remains 'difficult, unpleasant and dynamic.' Elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on a military training facility left one soldier dead and 11 others wounded, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on social media.
Al Arabiya
6 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US envoy discusses peace proposal with Sudan army chief: Sources
Sudan 's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the United States' senior advisor for Africa Massad Boulos met in Switzerland to discuss a US peace plan for the war-torn and hunger-stricken country, two Sudanese government sources told AFP on Tuesday. The pair had a three-hour meeting on Monday 'where they discussed a proposal submitted by the United States for a comprehensive ceasefire in Sudan and the delivery of humanitarian aid,' a senior government source said. Since April 2023, the war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises. Previous mediation efforts over the past two years have failed to secure a ceasefire, as rival forces battled for territory in Africa's third largest nation. The meeting is the highest-level engagement in months, as Washington appears to be amping up its peace efforts on Sudan. On Monday, 'al-Burhan told Boulos that the RSF has no political role in Sudan,' the government source told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. They added al-Burhan had received the US' plan before traveling to Switzerland, and that he was back in his wartime capital Port Sudan by Tuesday morning. On the ground, the fighting shows no signs of abating. While al-Burhan's forces successfully recaptured the capital Khartoum in March, the paramilitary has intensified its attacks on al-Fashir, a state capital in the western Darfur region that is now the war's most important frontline. In its efforts to consolidate its hold on the entire Darfur region, the RSF on Monday launched a new attack on the North Darfur state capital, killing 40 people in a displacement camp, first responders reported. As a result of the siege, 63 people, mostly women and children, died of malnutrition in the city within a week this month. Across Sudan, nearly 25 million people are suffering from dire food insecurity. The war has fragmented the country, with the army holding the north, east and center, while the RSF controls nearly all of Darfur and with its allies parts of the south.
