NN Online:
Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir, officials said Friday, after the United Nations urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” following a deadly shooting in the region.
Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.
Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told AFP Friday that troops exchanged fire along the Line of Control (LOC) that separates the two countries.”There was no firing on the civilian population,” he added.
India’s army confirmed there had been limited firing of small arms that it said had been “initiated by Pakistan”, adding it had been “effectively responded to”.
On Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that issues between the countries “can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement”.
“We very much appeal to both the governments… to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further,” he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to hunt down the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians at the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, after Indian police identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani.
“I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” Modi said, in his first speech since Tuesday’s attack in the Himalayan region.
“We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth.”
Denying any involvement, Islamabad called attempts to link Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack “frivolous” and vowed to respond to any Indian action.
“Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” a statement said, after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a rare National Security Committee with top military chiefs.
