The US has appealed to India and Pakistan to de-escalate after a deadly attack in Kashmir, as New Delhi yesterday said that both sides again traded border gunfire overnight.
India blames Pakistan for a gun attack that killed 26 people on Tuesday last week in Indian-administered Kashmir, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving his military “complete operational freedom.”
Denying involvement, Islamabad says it has “credible evidence” that India is planning an imminent military strike, vowing that “any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response.”
Photo: AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday separately called Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the US Department of State said.
Rubio “urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack” and “encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia,” department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Jaishankar yesterday said after the call that the attack’s “perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice.”
New Delhi reported the seventh straight night of small-arms gunfire between the two sides at the heavily militarized Line of Control, the de facto border.
Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of about 15 million people, is divided between Pakistan and India, which have fought several wars over the disputed territory.
About 1.5 million people live near the ceasefire line on the Pakistani side, where residents were readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers — reinforced with concrete if they could afford it.
“For one week we have been living in constant fear, particularly concerning the safety of our children,” said Iftikhar Ahmad Mir, a 44-year-old shopkeeper in Chakothi on the Line of Control. “We make sure they don’t roam around after finishing school and come straight home.”
Emergency services workers in Muzaffarabad, the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, have also begun training schoolchildren on what to do if India attacks.
“We have learned how to dress a wounded person, how to carry someone on a stretcher and how to put out a fire,” 11-year-old Ali Raza said.
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