India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire on Wednesday in their most severe military confrontation in two decades, resulting in at least 26 Pakistani and 12 Indian fatalities.
Tensions between the nuclear neighbours have been simmering since 22 April, when gunmen killed 26 men in Indian Kashmir.
The situation escalated into an open military encounter overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Both armies engaged in artillery fire along the disputed Kashmir border following Indian airstrikes on Pakistani soil in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack.
The Indian army, through spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Vyomika Singh, stated that the airstrikes destroyed "nine terrorist camps."
The subsequent barrage of Indian missiles targeting six cities in Pakistani Kashmir and Punjab left at least 26 civilians dead and injured 46 others, according to Islamabad army spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Chaudhry.
Chaudhry also noted the damage inflicted on the Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric dam by the artillery exchanges.
Indian authorities reported at least 12 deaths and 38 injuries in the Indian Kashmir village of Poonch due to artillery fire.
Earlier in the night, violent explosions shook the surroundings of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
By morning, Pakistan claimed to have "shot down five Indian aircraft" in its neighbour’s airspace, while an Indian security source told AFP that three Indian Air Force fighters crashed for reasons yet to be confirmed. The fate of the pilots remains unknown.
