Pakistan accuses India of focusing on three navy bases with missiles as tensions escalate

[ad_1] Pakistan stated it had begun retaliation strikes after accusing India of focusing on three of its navy bases with missiles fired from fighter jets, in a significant escalation of the brewing battle between the 2 nuclear-armed neighbours.

“India, with its bare aggression, has attacked with missiles. Nur Khan base, Murid base and Shorkot base have been focused,” Pakistan navy spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated in a reside broadcast aired by state tv early on Saturday.

Shortly afterwards, Pakistan officers confirmed that they had begun their counter assault in opposition to India, underneath the title Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, an Arabic phrase which means ‘wall of lead’.

Chaudhry stated India had fired six ballistic missiles from over the border in Punjab. He stated most have been intercepted by Pakistani air defences.

Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, the place the navy has its headquarters, is round 10km from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Within the aftermath of the strikes, Pakistan shut down its air area.

Video shared on social media confirmed flames and smoke billowing into the night time sky as a voice will be heard saying, “There was an assault on Nur Khan base as fighter jets flew previous.”

The early morning strikes on Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, a densely populated space, induced mass panic, with residents operating into the streets. “There was a loud explosion which woke everybody up. It was so scary, everybody remains to be in a panic,” stated one resident dwelling close by.

India’s tried strikes on Rawalpindi and different key navy bases – and the launch of Pakistan’s counter-attack on Saturday – marks the steepest escalation of their confrontation but, bringing the 2 nations the closest they've been to battle in many years.

On Wednesday India’s missiles struck nine sites in Pakistan killing 31 folks. These strikes in flip have been India’s response to an assault in Indian-administered Kashmir late final month, during which militants killed 25 Hindu tourists and a guide , which they alleged had Pakistan’s involvement.

India’s alleged strikes on Pakistan got here hours after Indian stated Pakistan had launched yet one more wave of drone assaults throughout 26 areas over the state of Punjab and Indian-administered Kashmir on Friday night time. Explosions have been heard close to the airport in Srinagar, the principle metropolis in India-administered Kashmir.

The Indian military stated that they had largely intercepted the drones however police stated three folks within the Ferozepur district of Punjab, which borders Pakistan, had been injured from the drone assaults, one in a crucial situation.

Earlier within the day, India accused Pakistan of launching an assault utilizing as much as 400 drones to focus on cities, navy bases and locations of worship throughout the north of the nation on Thursday.

India claimed to have intercepted a whole lot of Pakistani drones, which it stated got here throughout the border into Indian-administered Kashmir , in addition to Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat. It stated a primary wave of drones got here on Thursday night and one other wave hit near daybreak on Friday.

India stated it had launched 4 drone strikes at Pakistan, instantly focusing on navy defence infrastructure.

In a press convention on Friday, the Indian navy alleged that Pakistan’s drone assaults on Thursday had focused a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, injuring a civilian, and that the drones had additionally focused Christian church buildings.

“The focusing on of temples, gurdwaras, convents is a brand new low by Pakistan,” stated India’s international secretary, Vikram Misri.

Pakistan’s data minister, Attaullah Tarar, denied the drone assaults and stated Pakistan had not undertaken any “offensive actions” inside Indian Kashmir or past Pakistan’s border.

Nevertheless, a Pakistan safety official stated that Thursday night time’s drone strikes have been simply to “warmth issues up” earlier than Pakistan launched a totally fledged retaliatory assault. “Once we hit again, everybody will know,” they stated.

Pakistan stated it thought-about the Indian assault an “act of battle” and vowed to retaliate.

“We is not going to de-escalate – with the damages India did on our facet, they need to take successful,” Pakistan’s navy spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, stated at a media briefing. “Thus far we've been defending ourselves however they'll get a solution in our personal timing.”

The Pakistani military gave new particulars of Wednesday’s strike during which it claimed Pakistan had deployed greater than 100 planes to chase away the strikes by Indian planes that carried out the assaults from Indian airspace. It stated the 2 sides had engaged in an hour-long aerial dogfight.

Pakistan claimed it used Chinese language-made weapons and floor air defences to assist carry down 5 Indian fighter jets. India has but to reply to allegations that Pakistan shot down its planes, however particles from not less than three fighter jets, together with that of not less than one elite French Rafale jet, was seen in Indian-administered Kashmir and Punjab.