India and Pakistan exchange fire in Kashmir

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir, officials said on Friday, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show "maximum restraint",

Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism" after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.

Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told AFP Friday that troops exchanged fire along the Line of Control that separates the two countries.

"There was no firing on the civilian population," he added.

India's army confirmed there had been limited firing of small arms that it said had been "initiated by Pakistan", adding it had been "effectively responded to".

On Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric appealed to both governments "to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we've seen do not deteriorate any further".

"Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe, can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday vowed to hunt down the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians at the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, after Indian police identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani.

"I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer," Modi said, in his first speech since Tuesday's attack in the Himalayan region.

"We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth."

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Denying any involvement, Islamabad called attempts to link Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack "frivolous" and vowed to respond to any Indian action.

"Any threat to Pakistan's sovereignty and the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains," a Pakistani statement said, after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a rare National Security Committee with top military chiefs.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since its independence in 1947, with both claiming the territory in full but governing separate portions of it.

Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Indian police say the three gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation. They offered a bounty of two million rupees ($23,500) for information leading to each man's arrest.

A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties, and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.

India advised its citizens in Pakistan to return as soon as possible. Motorists were heading towards India via the Wagah-Attari border crossing, which will be closed from May 1.

In response, Islamabad on Thursday ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian citizens – except Sikh pilgrims – and closing the main border crossing from its side.

Hundreds of Pakistanis joined protests on Thursday against India's threats. In Kashmir, about 300 people brandishing anti-India placards marched through the main city of Muzaffarabad.

Pakistan also warned that any attempt by India to stop the supply of water from the Indus River would be an "act of war".

Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.

In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.

"Whatever little land these terrorists have, it's time to reduce it to dust," Mr Modi said on Thursday, after holding two minutes of silence in memory of those killed, all but one of whom was Indian.

Survivors told Indian media the gunmen targeted men and spared those who could give the Islamic declaration of faith.