India, Pakistan exchange gunfire for 2nd day as ties plummet after attack


  • World
  • Saturday, 26 Apr 2025

Border Security Force (BSF) security personnel stand guard at the Attari-Wagah crossing on the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, following Tuesday’s attack on tourists near south Kashmir’s scenic Pahalgam, India, April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire for a second straight day on Saturday as ties plummeted between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after an attack on tourists blamed on Pakistani militants killed 26 in India's Kashmir region.

The Indian Army said its troops responded to "unprovoked" small arms fire from multiple Pakistan Army posts that started around midnight on Friday along the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border separating the Indian and Pakistani areas of Kashmir.

The Indian Army said Pakistani troops had also opened up with sporadic fire around midnight on Thursday. No casualties were reported from the Indian side, it said.

There was no immediate comment from the Pakistani military.

Kashmir's police have identified three suspects, including two Pakistani nationals, who carried out the April 22 attack. Pakistan has denied any involvement and its defence minister has said an international investigation was needed into the attack.

After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines, and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.

India and Pakistan have a decades-old ceasefire agreement over the disputed region of Kashmir but their troops still exchange gunfire sporadically. The two nations both claim Kashmir and have fought two of their three wars over it.

(Reporting by Shivam Patel in Srinagar; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In World

South Africa does not plan to replace US HIV funds yet, minister says
Germany lays to rest Margot Friedlaender, Holocaust survivor key to remembrance culture
Britain seeking third countries to host deported migrants
Russian nationalists press Putin to fight on in Ukraine
Huge ice falls at Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier stir awe and concern
Hungarian media, activists protest against crackdown on foreign-funded groups
Former Mauritanian president jailed for 15 years following appeal
Explainer-Is Qatar's gift of a plane to President Trump allowed under US law?
Analysis-Trump's Qatari 747 may need fighter escorts to serve as Air Force One
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex-girlfriend to face cross-examination at hip-hop mogul's criminal trial

Others Also Read