Pakistan accused India of bringing the nuclear-armed neighbors “closer to a major conflict” Friday — as the death toll of the three-day tit-for-tat exceeded 50.
Five civilians, including a 2-year-old girl, were killed by Indian shelling overnight in the area around the heavily militarized Line of Control — which separates disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan, according to Pakistani security and government officials.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said that India’s “reckless conduct has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict.”
And military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry vowed, “We will not de-escalate — with the damages they did on our side, they should take a hit.”
“So far, we have been protecting ourselves but they will get an answer in our own timing,” he added.
Meanwhile, in India, heavy shelling left one woman dead and two men wounded, police officials there said.
The Indian army said it had “repulsed” waves of Pakistani drone attacks overnight and gave a “befitting reply.”
The two countries – which have fought three full-scale wars against each other since they gained independence from Britain in 1947 – have been clashing since India struck several areas it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan on Wednesday.
The retaliatory attack came after 26 tourists were killed last month in India-run Kashmir in an assault New Dehli accused Islamad of backing — which Pakistan has denied.
The neighboring countries have spent the latter part of this week exchanging cross-border shots and blasts, sending missiles and drones into each other’s airspaces – marking the worst fight between the two nations in nearly three decades.
“Pakistan and India have enough nuclear weapons to wipe the other side out several times over,” security analyst Syed Mohammed Ali told the Associated Press. “Their nuclear weapons create a scenario for mutually assured destruction.”
Residents of both nations raced to stockpile food and essential supplies Friday, while those living near the border fled to safer areas.
The Indian Premier League cricket suspended play for a week over the raging conflict.
With Post wires
