LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Blasts heard over Pakistan's second-largest city signal the most recent salvo in a generations-long conflict in South Asia.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
This morning, residents in Pakistan's second-largest city of Lahore were hearing explosions. Pakistan's military spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif, says Pakistan shot down Indian drones, which he says were flying over major cities.
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AHMED SHARIF: This naked aggression continues, and the armed forces are on high degree of alert and neutralizing them as we speak. This is a serious, serious provocation.
INSKEEP: This comes after India launched multiple strikes across Pakistan on Wednesday. These were the most extensive attacks that India has carried out in more than 50 years. India says it was responding to terror attacks last month launched out of Pakistani territory.
FADEL: On the line with us is NPR's Diaa Hadid. She's in Mumbai and covers both India and Pakistan. Good morning.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So, Diaa, just bring us up to speed. What is happening today?
HADID: Right. Well, the Pakistani army spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif, accused India of sending across 25 Israeli-made drones this morning. He says some of them flew over major population centers, including Karachi, which is the biggest city in the country with 20 million people, and crucially, Rawalpindi, which is home to Pakistan's general military headquarters. Sharif says they shot down all the drones, except for one that targeted an old airport in Lahore. He says four military personnel were injured and one civilian killed. Sharif just spoke to the media in English. That's a signal that his message is for the West.
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SHARIF: It appears that India has apparently lost the plot. And rather than going on a path of rationality, is further escalating in a highly charged environment to satisfy the hubristic mindset of the Indian government.
HADID: What he's referring to there, Leila, is India's Hindu nationalist government, which had vowed retribution for a militant attack in late April, where gunmen opened fire on tourists in a meadow, killing 26. India blamed Pakistan for that attack. Pakistan says it's not connected, but it's that incident which triggered these escalations.
FADEL: Right. But I'm thinking, where does this go? It seems like tensions are just rising and rising at this point.
HADID: At this point, yes. But if I can step back a bit, when India struck Pakistan earlier this week, the Indian military had quickly signaled they were not seeking an escalation, and Pakistan said it shot down five Indian military aircraft. And analysts told me they were waiting to see if that would be enough for Pakistan to show its people that the army was defending the country. Even this morning, the Pakistani deputy prime minister confirmed that national security advisers of both countries had spoken to each other, so it was looking hopeful. But then the accusation happened of India sending drones over Pakistani airspace. So Ajai Shukla - he is a retired Indian Army colonel, and he says any new development here changes all calculations.
AJAI SHUKLA: And the dynamic between those two are sort of hostile and sort of aggressive. Then what was said two days ago no longer holds good. There is absolutely scope for something bigger.
FADEL: Has India said anything about these allegations about the drones?
HADID: Not so far, but India's foreign minister has just said if the country is attacked, there'll be a firm response. And it's important to remember, already in this latest escalation, there are casualties, more than 30 people on the Pakistani side, including children, and more than 12 people killed in India. And that doesn't even include the 26 people who were killed by gunmen in late April, which triggered this whole escalation.
FADEL: That's Diaa Hadid in Mumbai. Thank you, Diaa.
HADID: Thank you, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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