India-Pakistan conflict surges

INDIA and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier yesterday after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival, in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades.

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At least 34 deaths were reported, with Islamabad saying 26 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least eight dead from Pakistani shelling.

The attack came days after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing a deadly attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir.

The South Asian neighbours have fought multiple wars since they were carved out of the sub-continent at the end of British rule in 1947.

The latest violence exceeds India’s strikes in 2019, when New Delhi said it had hit “several militants” after a suicide bomber attacked an Indian security force convoy, killing 40.

The Indian army said “justice is served", reporting nine “terrorist camps” had been destroyed, with New Delhi adding that its actions “have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to “shore up” his domestic popularity, but said Islamabad had struck back.

“The retaliation has already started", Asif said. “We won't take long to settle the score.”