The fears of a military switch tensions between India and Pakistan materialized on the night of Tuesday, 6 to Wednesday, May 7. After several days of increased tension, the two rival powers exchanged a series of rare intensity strikes along their disputed border in cashmere, killing at least 26 people on the Pakistani side and eight Indian side, according to the balance sheets communicated by the respective authorities.
It all started in the evening of Tuesday when Indian aviation targeted six localities from cashmere and Pakistani pendjab, AFP explains. An operation carried out in retaliation for the deadly attack of Pahalgam, where 26 Indian soldiers were killed on April 22. An attack in which Pakistan denies any involvement. A few hours later, the Pakistani artillery retaliated, pounding several sectors of the Indian cashmere, including the locality of Poonch, where eight Indian civilians died. The Pakistani army also proclaimed itself to have killed five Indian planes in Indian airspace, including three French Rafale.
Children among the victims
At least 26 civilians were killed on the Pakistani side, including two three -year -old girls and a five -year -old boy. Forty-six other people were injured, according to the Pakistani army spokesman, General Ahmed Chaudhry. In India, the authorities have identified eight dead and 29 injured in the village of Poonch, in the northwest of cashmere.
This sudden outbreak of violence marks a disturbing turning point in Indo-Pakistani relations, historically tense since the 1947 score. The cashmere, a region of Muslim majority shared between the two countries but claimed in whole by each, remains a major point of friction. Two of the three wars between the two neighbors broke out about it. If incidents occur regularly along the “Control line” – de facto border in cashmere -, the intensity and extent of the attacks last night have been unprecedented since the Kargil crisis in 1999.
Calls in calm are multiplying
New Delhi assures that no Pakistani military installation has been targeted, stressing “Considerable restraint”. Islamabad retorts that this attack “Return two nuclear powers closer to a major conflict”. Internationally, the first reactions were cautious but firm. China, Russia and France have urged the two countries to avoid any new escalation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio phoned his counterparts to encourage them to dialogue to “Deform the situation and avoid a new escalation”according to the White House. Donald Trump said hoping that “The clashes stop very quickly”. “The world cannot afford a military confrontation”for his part pleaded the UN.
In both countries, patriotic rhetoric hardens. In New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a green light to a “Riposte” military and announced that he was going “Cut the water” Rivers that have their source in India and irrigate Pakistan – a short -term impractical project according to experts. Pakistan has insured “Reserve the absolute right to respond decisively to this uninsured Indian attack”, While reporting that Indian strikes had damaged one of its dams producing electricity in Pakistani cashmere.
The looks are now turning around the next few hours. As the morning got up on a still unstable front line, the diplomats hope for a return to dialogue. But on the ground, the CHMARMIRIE POUDRIE threatens, once again, to ignite the whole subcontinent.
