Pakistan accused of launching fresh drone attacks on India as tensions rise

Pakistan has been accused of launching a fresh wave of drone strikes against India last night, with projectiles reported over the states of Indian-administered Kashmir and Punjab.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen Delhi Aakash Hassan Kashmir

Explosions were heard in areas of Indian Kashmir and the bright flash of intercepted drones was seen over the Punjab city of Amritsar. Witnesses said the drone strikes were heavier than those that took place on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, India accused Pakistan of launching an attack using up to 400 drones to target cities, military bases and places of worship in the north of the country on Thursday night, as the Pakistani military said it would "not de-escalate with India".

India claimed to have intercepted hundreds of Pakistani drones, which it said came across the border into Indian-administered Kashmir, as well as Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat. A first wave of drones came on Thursday evening and another wave hit close to dawn yesterday.

India claimed it had launched four drone strikes at Pakistan, directly targeting military defence infrastructure.

In a press conference yesterday, the Indian military alleged that Pakistan's drone attacks on Thursday had targeted a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, injuring a civilian, and that the drones had also targeted Christian churches.

"The targeting of temples, gurdwaras [and] convents is a new low by Pakistan," said India's foreign secretary, Vikram Misri.

The Pakistan information minister, Attaullah Tarar, denied the drone attacks, calling the Indian army statement "baseless and misleading", and said Pakistan had not undertaken any "offensive actions" within Indian-administered Kashmir or beyond the country's border.

However, a Pakistan security official said Thursday's drone strikes were just to "heat things up" before Pakistan hit back with a fully fledged retaliatory attack. "When we hit back, everyone will know," they said.

Misri called Pakistan's denial of the drone attacks "farcical" and "another example of its duplicity".