POONCH, India: The frontier between arch-foes India and Pakistan was peaceful and had the “first calm night in recent days,” the Indian army said Monday, after a surprise weekend ceasefire.
The truce was agreed to on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks between the two countries which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing.
It was the worst violence since the nuclear-armed rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sent global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.
There were initial doubts as the two sides accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by US President Donald Trump on social media.
“The night remained largely peaceful across... Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said.
“No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” the statement added.
It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, the frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India.
Poonch was one of the worst-hit regions in the latest conflict, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes.
On Sunday, people started trickling back to the town, although many still remained worried that the ceasefire would not last.
The alarming spiral toward all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.
This followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.
India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire.
It claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets — something New Delhi has not commented on.
Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.
Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.
