\n<\/p>\n
India claimed to have thwarted retaliatory missile and drone strikes launched by Pakistan on Thursday evening, which attempted to hit sites in Indian-administered Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan.<\/p>\n
Residents in Jammu, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, reported missiles and drones over the city and the noise of explosions, amid a city-wide blackout.<\/p>\n
The Indian army said its air defence systems had intercepted eight missiles fired by Pakistan that had attempted to target military stations in Jammu and the wider Indian-administered Kashmir region.<\/p>\n
According to India, there were also attempts by Pakistan to target its Pathankot airbase in Punjab, which is less than 20 miles from the volatile shared border, and it came under heavy artillery fire from Pakistan forces. Locals living in the border cities of Jaisalmer and Bikaner also reported missiles flying overhead and the sound of shelling.<\/p>\n
A statement by the Indian army said it had \u201cneutralised\u201d all the threats from Pakistan with missiles and drones. \u201cNo losses,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Thursday night\u2019s attacks by Pakistan marked another escalation of the conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries, after Indian missile strikes on Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday killed 31 people. Pakistan\u2019s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, called India\u2019s attacks, the most extensive airstrike attack on Pakistan in decades, an \u201cact of war\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan had accused India of \u201cyet another blatant military act of aggression\u201d after it claimed that at least 25 Indian drones had been sent deep into Pakistani territory on Wednesday night, killing two civilians and injuring four soldiers. Military and government figures made it clear that Pakistan saw the drone strikes as a further \u201cprovocation\u201d and felt compelled to retaliate.<\/p>\n India\u2019s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, swiftly warned that India would respond to any retaliatory aggression by Pakistan. \u201cIf there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response,\u201d he told a visiting foreign delegation.<\/p>\n India\u2019s claims to have stopped all Pakistani missiles and drone attacks are likely to come as a major embarrassment to Pakistan\u2019s military. There was no immediate official comment from the Pakistani military but state-run Pakistan Television denied reports of military strikes in Indian-controlled Kashmir, calling them \u201cfalse, baseless, and fabricated\u201d.<\/p>\n India\u2019s initial strikes on Wednesday were a direct retaliation for an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir late last month, in which militants killed<\/a> 25 Hindu tourists and a guide. India had accused Pakistan of direct involvement in the attacks, through Islamist militant organisations it has long been accused of backing.<\/p>\n India claimed Wednesday\u2019s strikes targeted only \u201cterrorist infrastructure\u201d including training camps and homes belonging to well-known militant organisations that have been behind some of the worst terrorist attacks in India over the past two decades. It emphasised it had not hit any Pakistani military bases or equipment, and described the strikes as \u201cmeasured, not escalatory, proportionate and responsible\u201d.<\/p>\n However, Pakistan denied that any terrorist groups had been operating in the areas hit by Indian missiles, and said the strikes had targeted only civilians.<\/p>\n Throughout the day, the international community had made efforts to mediate between India and Pakistan and bring them back from the brink of all-out war. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said he had spoken to both Pakistan\u2019s Sharif and India\u2019s Jaishankar and urged \u201cthe need for immediate de-escalation\u201d. The Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers flew into Delhi on Thursday.<\/p>\n The two sides spent the day firing off escalatory allegations at each other. After Pakistan said that India had \u201clost the plot\u201d by sending dozens of drones into Pakistan, India alleged that Pakistan had unsuccessfully attempted to launch drones and missiles at a 15 military targets in its north and west, including in the cities of Amritsar, Srinagar and Chandigarh. It said its air defence systems stopped all the attacks.<\/p>\n India\u2019s defence ministry said it had \u201cneutralised\u201d the air defence system over the Pakistani city of Lahore and said: \u201cAny attack on military targets in India will invite a suitable response.\u201d<\/p>\n Pakistan denied the allegations it had launched any strikes into India early on Thursday, with a military spokesperson referring to them as \u201cphantom strikes\u201d. Speaking to the Guardian, a senior Pakistani security official was clear that action would soon be taken. \u201cThe offensive response will come now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n India\u2019s border states of Rajasthan and Punjab were put on high alert for a reprisal attack by Pakistan, with all police leave cancelled and border security forces given shoot-on-sight orders for any suspicious activities.<\/p>\n