Reuters field report on Indias attack on Pakistan control line out of control
Residents of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir’s capital say they fled thier homes amid India’s retaliatory airstrikes on the region.
According to the English section of “Webangah News Agency“ citing Mehr News Agency and Reuters, residents of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, fled their homes and took refuge in nearby hills following Indian airstrikes.
They reported that after multiple ground tremors and blast waves, local authorities used mosque loudspeakers to urge residents to seek shelter. One resident described the early morning attacks to Reuters: “We ran out of our homes. Then another explosion happened. The entire house shook. Everyone was terrified—we evacuated and took shelter in the hills with our children.”
Reuters reported that crowds gathered near a mosque at sunrise that had been struck in the attacks. Its roof had collapsed, and its minaret was toppled. Security forces cordoned off the area. A senior regional official confirmed three deaths near the destroyed mosque, while Pakistan’s military stated 26 people were killed in total across India’s strikes on Pakistan and its controlled Kashmir territories.
new Delhi launched dawn strikes on Wednesday under “Operation Sindoor,” targeting what it called “terrorist hideouts, recruitment centers, missile launchpads, indoctrination hubs, ammunition depots, and training facilities.” Islamabad condemned this as an “explicit declaration of war.” Tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan escalated after an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people last week—an incident New delhi blames on Islamabad’s alleged support for “cross-border terrorism,” which Pakistan denies.
Local officials said cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) separating Pakistani- and Indian-held Kashmir continued into Wednesday morning, killing at least six Pakistani civilians. Meanwhile, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir reported at least 10 dead and around 50 wounded from exchange fire there this week.
Hospitals remain operational in muzaffarabad; some small businesses reopened today while schools stayed closed with exams canceled due to ongoing hostilities.(Images embedded throughout depict scenes from Reuters’ field report on India-Pakistan clashes along LoC.)
