The conflict between Pakistan and India escalated early Saturday as both sides targeted each other’s air bases and blamed the other for hitting them first.
The Pakistani military said it began a strike against India in retaliation for recent “Indian aggression,” according to CNN. The country also said it struck India’s Pathankot Airfield and Udhampur Air Force Station as part of “Operation Bunyan al-Marsus.”
Pakistan said India had targeted a couple of its air bases with air-to-surface missiles.
“An eye for an eye,” the Pakistani military said in a statement.
Missiles and flashes could be seen in the night sky above the Indian Kashmir city of Jammu. An Indian military official said, “Drones have been sighted… They are being engaged.”
India also said its action against Pakistan on Saturday was retaliatory. Its military said several Pakistani military targets were struck as a result of multiple Pakistani attacks on 26 locations using drones and fighter planes.
“It is Pakistani actions that have constituted provocation and escalation,” India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri said. “In response, India has defended and reacted in a responsible and measured fashion.”
Tensions between the two nuclear powers have been heightened since Wednesday, when India struck several areas that it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan. India said this attack was in retaliation for a deadly attack last month on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir.
Pakistan has denied India’s claim that it was involved in the terrorist attack.
INDIA-PAKISTAN CONFLICT SPLITS ALLEGIANCES BETWEEN ALLIES CHINA AND RUSSIA
Approximately 48 people have been killed since the attacks began on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior officials in both countries before the attacks, urging them to ease tensions.