MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire through the night into Thursday morning in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a day after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, though jet fighters roared overhead through the mountainous region as villagers along the so-called Line of Control fled to safety.
Meanwhile, members of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party called for more military action, suggesting the conflict still could worsen.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had called for talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals in a televised address Wednesday, saying: “Considering the nature of the weapons that both of us have, can we afford any miscalculation?“
World powers have called on the nations to de-escalate the tensions gripping the contested region since a Feb. 14 suicide car bombing killed over 40 Indian paramilitary personnel. India responded with an airstrike Tuesday inside Pakistan, the first such raid since the two nations’ 1971 war over territory that later became Bangladesh.
The situation escalated with Wednesday’s aerial skirmish, which saw Pakistan say it shot down two Indian aircraft, one of which crashed in Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir and the other in Indian-administered Kashmir.
India acknowledged one of its MiG-21s, a Soviet-era fighter jet, was “lost” in skirmishes with Pakistan and that its pilot was “missing in action.”
India also said it shot down a Pakistani warplane, something Islamabad denied.
Both Indian and Pakistani officials reported small-arms fire and shelling along the Kashmir region into Thursday. Government buildings in Muzafarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered section of Kashmir, were used to provide shelter to those who fled from border towns.
Authorities in Pakistani-administered Kashmir closed all schools and educational institutions in the region and urged parents to keep their children at home amid mounting tension with neighboring India. Pakistan’s airspace remained closed for a second day Thursday, snarling air traffic.
Kashmir has been claimed by both India and Pakistan since almost immediately after their creation in 1947. The countries have fought three wars against each other, two directly dealing with the disputed region.