We were thrown into chaos'

Fear and panic on both sides of the India-Pakistan border

- Aakash Hassan, Kashmir Shah Meer Baloch, Islamabad Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Delhi

For days, residents living on both sides of the volatile border between India and Pakistan, dividing the disputed region of Kashmir, had been bracing themselves for war. After India accused Pakistan of involvement in a terrorist attack which killed 26 people and vowed to retaliate, locals knew a confrontation could take place at any moment.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, residents living in border villages had been preparing bunkers and stocking up supplies. Around 1am on Wednesday, the whistle of missiles overhead and the boom of explosions over the border alerted them that Indian strikes on Pakistan had begun.

In the village of Wuyen, in the Pulwama district of southern Indian Kashmir, locals reported that an object, suspected to be an aircraft, had fallen from the sky. Firefighters were immediately sent to extinguish the resulting blaze.

While officials declined to confirm whether it was a military aircraft, witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion around midnight accompanied by the sound of fighter jets. "It sounded like powerful thunder. When I looked outside, I saw a massive fireball," said one local resident.