Countries trade blows across line of control in disputed Kashmir as tensions rise after deadly shooting

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the line of control in disputed Kashmir, officials have said, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” after Tuesday’s massacre of Indian tourists by Islamic militants.

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.

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© Photograph: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

After a militant attack in Kashmir, the Indian government said it was suspending its participation in a treaty that governs most of the water used in Pakistani agriculture.

© Arif Ali/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Islamabad closes airspace to Indian aircraft and tells Delhi any interference in water sharing will be seen as act of war

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have moved closer to military confrontation as Islamabad closed its airspace to Indian aircraft and warned that any effort by Delhi to interfere with the supply of water under a decades-old treaty would be viewed as an act of war.

In a series of escalating tit-for-tat moves since a massacre of Indian tourists in the disputed region of Kashmir earlier this week by Islamic militants, India ordered its citizens to return from Pakistan, while Pakistan expelled a number of Indian diplomats.

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© Photograph: Dar Yasin/AP

© Photograph: Dar Yasin/AP

The Pakistani government said that if India followed through on a threat to block rivers it would take it as “an act of war.”

© Manish Swarup/Associated Press

Tensions rise between nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought three wars over territory as Delhi vows to respond

The brutal militant attack that killed 26 people in one of Kashmir’s most scenic spots has shattered the region’s relative calm, turning a popular tourist destination into a scene of horror – and raising fears of a fresh conflict between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.

Soon after the attack in which gunmen emerged from dense pine woods and opened fire on families picnicking and riding ponies, India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, vowed a “loud and clear response”.

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© Photograph: Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

NEW DELHI — At least 26 people were killed and 17 others wounded after gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region that has seen an anti-India rebellion for more than three decades. Read More

A terrorist attack in the disputed territory in 2019 brought India and Pakistan to the verge of war. There are fears Tuesday’s violence could do the same.

© Reuters

Water treaty also suspended amid hunt for militants said to have executed men unable to recite Islamic verses

India has closed a key land border with Pakistan, cancelled a water-sharing treaty and barred Pakistan’s citizens from entering under a visa exemption scheme after Tuesday’s attack by Islamic militants in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists.

India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, said those who carried out and planned the Kashmir region’s worst attack on civilians in years, including those “behind the scenes”, would see a swift response.

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© Photograph: Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Basit Zargar/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

India announced a series of retaliatory actions, and hinted at the possibility of more, in response to what it called Pakistan’s support of terrorism on Indian soil.

© Tauseef Mustafa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

SRINAGAR, India -- Gunmen shot and killed at least 26 tourists Tuesday at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said in what appeared to be a major shift in a regional conflict in which tourists have largely been spared. Read More