India, Pakistan trade accusations of drone attacks as tensions ramp up
Mutual accusations of drone attacks by India and Pakistan are stoking fears of large-scale military clashes between the two neighbors.
A Pakistani military spokesperson said India's military carried out drone strikes in Pakistan between Wednesday night and Thursday.
The spokesperson said 25 of the unmanned aircraft were shot down, but that two civilians, one in the eastern province of Punjab, were killed.
India's government released a statement accusing Pakistan of using drones and missiles against a number of military targets in the country's north and west from Wednesday night to Thursday.
The statement also said India's military had targeted air defense radars and systems "at a number of locations in Pakistan" on Thursday morning. It claimed that an air defense system in the eastern city of Lahore had been "neutralized."
Media outlets in India are reporting that Pakistan mounted more attacks, including drone strikes, on Thursday night.
Indian and Pakistani military forces stationed in the disputed Kashmir region have also been engaged in sporadic fighting across the de facto boundary between the two countries.
India announced on Wednesday that it had conducted missile attacks on Pakistan and the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir earlier in the day.
India said the strikes had targeted what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in retaliation for a deadly assault by gunmen in the India-controlled part of Kashmir last month.
Pakistan denies India's claim that it was involved in the Kashmir attack.
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