Pakistan intercepted 25 Israeli-made drones launched toward its territory by India amid an escalation in fighting between the two nations, Islamabad’s military spokesman claimed on Thursday.
“Indian drones continue to be sent into Pakistan airspace,” Reuters cited Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry as stating. The spokesman vowed that New Delhi would “continue to pay dearly for this naked aggression.”
Chaudhry said that at least one UAV was shot down over Rawalpindi, home to the Pakistan Army’s heavily fortified headquarters, while another hit a military target near Lahore, wounding four soldiers.
According to Israel’s Globes outlet, the suicide drones used by India include the Israel Aerospace Industries’ Harop, which is able to carry a payload of up to 35 pounds of explosives and is extremely accurate.
The Israeli UAV is effective up to a range of some 124 miles, can fly for nine hours and reach a speed of 225 knots (259 mph) at an altitude of 15,000 feet.
The Indian Defense Ministry said Pakistan had attempted to strike military targets in northern and western India on Wednesday and Thursday, and they were “neutralized” by its air defense systems.
In response, New Delhi attacked air defense radars and systems in Pakistan on Thursday, the statement said, noting that India’s retaliation “has been in the same domain with the same intensity as Pakistan.”
Pakistan in recent days also increased the intensity of its attacks across the de facto border with India in the Kashmir region, killing at least 16 people, including five children and three women, the Indian military stated.
The relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad has been rife with tension since both nations gained independence from Britain in 1947. The countries have fought three wars over Kashmir, a disputed region they both claim in its entirety and each control in part.
The latest escalation started in the aftermath of an April 22 Islamist terrorist shooting attack in an Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 civilians, primarily Indian Hindu tourists.
A group called the “Kashmir Resistance” claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was unhappy that 85,000 “outsiders” live in the contested area, leading to a “demographic change,” Reuters reported.
India has accused Pakistan of having sponsored the terrorist attack.
Following the deadly shooting spree, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to extend Jerusalem’s condolences on the deaths of his citizens.
Modi thanked Netanyahu and the Israeli people for sharing in India’s mourning and emphasized that the two nations “stand shoulder to shoulder in the global campaign against murderous terrorism,” according to a readout from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Amid the escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday instructed citizens to avoid visiting the Jammu and Kashmir region, with the exception of the Ladakh area, a region administered by India as a union territory.
The ministry added that any Israeli citizens currently in Kashmir should “leave immediately” and obey the instructions of local security forces.