Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire for the second day in a row, today, reported Reuters. The Indian Army said its troops responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from multiple Pakistan Army posts that started around midnight on Friday, April 25, along the 740-km Line of Control dividing the Kashmir region. This follows reports yesterday that Indian officials said the army had a brief exchange of fire with Pakistani soldiers, which report was not confirmed by Pakistan.
Reuters adds that Kashmir’s police have identified three suspects, including two Pakistani nationals, who are said to have carried out the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 Indian tourists were killed. According to news reports, the attack was claimed by The Resistance Front, which is reportedly an offshoot of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group—which the Indians have long described as terrorists backed by Pakistani authorities.
Military moves by both sides were in evidence during April 23-24, following the attack on April 22. Pakistani Navy ships that were already underway in the Arabian Sea, engaged in a live-fire exercise, while the Indian Navy put a spotlight on its aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and escorts moving in that direction.
