India-Pakistan latest: Explosions heard near Srinagar airport after ‘drones shot down’ over Amritsar

Ten blasts have been heard near the airport in the Indian Kashmir city of Srinagar and there were explosions in a dozen other locations in the contested region, security officials say.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which dismissed Indian accusations that it had launched attacks on the same area on Thursday night.

Blasts have rung out across Indian Kashmir and the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in neighbouring Punjab state.

The Indian military said it was shooting down drones in the worst fighting with Pakistan in nearly three decades.

The explosions in Amritsar were the first heard in the three-day-old conflict.

Projectiles and flashes were seen in the night sky above the Indian Kashmir city of Jammu that was plunged into a blackout.

In Lahore, Pakistan, schools were closed on Friday, and shopkeepers said Lahoris were stocking up on food, gas cylinders for cooking and medicine, prompting authorities to warn businesses not to artificially increase prices.

“I have stocked grocery for a month: we got meat, flour, tea, oil, lentils etc and also drew extra cash from bank,” said Aroosha Rameez, 34, a Lahore resident.

Muhammad Asif, 35, said his pharmacy had had an influx of customers.

“People in Lahore have started stocking medicines as well, which may lead to shortages of paracetamol, anti-allergies, antibiotics, blood pressure and diabetes medicines,” he said.

Food delivery app FoodPanda, popular in Pakistan, said grocery orders nationwide had surged.

The Indian army says Pakistan fired about 300-400 drones overnight in violation of Indian airspace to target military installations in nearly three dozen sites along the western borders.

India brought down a number of the drones using “kinetic and non-kinetic means”, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian air force told a news conference.

Residents across Pakistan and India rushed to stockpile foods and other essential supplies, while families living near the border fled to safer areas.

Armed clashes between the nuclear-armed nations have been escalating, in the worst fighting between the two countries in nearly three decades.

In the Indian state of Punjab, Amanpreet Dhillon, 26, said many families in his village just 13 km (8 miles) from the border with Pakistan had sent women and children to safer areas.

In Indian-administered Kashmir’s Uri district, residents said many fled overnight after houses were struck by shelling, some taking shelter behind rocks or in bunkers.

“We have never seen such intense shelling in our life. The majority of the people fled the town and other villages as soon as shelling started last night,” said Bashir Ahmad, 45, in the town of Baramulla in Uri. “It was a nightmare for us.”

A string of explosions have been heard in Jammu city in Indian Kashmir, and projectiles were seen in the sky.

Pakistan has dismissed Indian accusations of Pakistani attacks as “baseless and misleading” and said Pakistan had not carried out any “offensive actions”.

India’s Border Security Force said a “major infiltration bid” was foiled in Kashmir’s Samba region on Thursday night.

“Several houses caught fire and were damaged in the shelling in the Uri sector … One woman was killed and three people were injured in overnight shelling,” an official said.

In Pakistani Kashmir, officials said heavy shelling from across the border killed five civilians, including an infant, and wounded 29 others in the early hours of Friday.

India’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fighting is the deadliest since a limited conflict between the two countries in Kashmir’s Kargil region in 1999.

The Pakistani air force says more than 100 planes of both Pakistan and India took part in a one-hour air battle on Wednesday.

Officials said Pakistan used China’s PL-15 missile, and five Indian planes were shot down.