India and Pakistan agree to a ceasefire after their worst military escalation in decades
By RIAZAT BUTT, AIJAZ HUSSAIN and RAJESH ROY
ISLAMABAD (AP) — India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire Saturday after U.S.-led talks to end the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades.
The deal was expected to bring a swift end to weeks of escalating clashes, including missile and drone strikes, triggered by the massacre of tourists by gunmen last month that India blames on Pakistan, which denies the charge. Dozens of civilians have been killed on both sides since then. But multiple explosions were heard in two large cities of India-controlled Kashmir hours after the countries agreed to the deal.
The first word of the truce came from U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted on his Truth Social platform that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire: “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the truce on Geo News, saying that Saudi Arabia and Turkey played an important role in facilitating the deal.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the head of military operations from both countries spoke Saturday afternoon.
“It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land, and in the air and sea. Instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to this understanding.” The top military leaders will speak again Monday, Misri added.
Hours after the agreement, explosions heard by residents in Srinagar and Jammu in India-controlled Kashmir were followed by blackouts in the two cities. There were immediately no reports of casualties.
Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, said in a post on social media: “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!”
Working toward a broader agreement
Conflict between India and Pakistan is not rare, with the two countries having periodically engaged in wars, clashes and skirmishes since gaining independence from British India in 1947.
The ceasefire in the latest hostilities came after the countries fired volleys of cross-border missile strikes Saturday, when India said it targeted Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in Punjab state. Pakistan said it responded with retaliatory strikes.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he and Vice President JD Vance had engaged with senior officials from both countries over the past 48 hours. They included Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir.
Rubio said the two governments agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”
Though Pakistanis had initially celebrated their army’s retaliation, they were later jubilant about the truce, saying it was a moment of national pride and relief after days of tension.
In Islamabad, Zubaida Bibi expressed her joy at the restoration of peace with India.
“War brings nothing but suffering,” she said. “We are happy that calm is returning. It feels like Eid to me. We have won.”
Indian strikes hit Pakistani air bases
Tensions have soared since the attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, on April 22.
Earlier Saturday, India’s military held a press briefing in New Delhi, saying Pakistan had targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Kashmir.
“Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” Indian Col. Sofiya Qureshi said.
Indian missiles targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to Pakistan’s military spokesman.
There were no immediate reports of the strike or its aftermath from residents in the densely populated Rawalpindi.
Pakistan’s military had said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to hit an Indian missile storage facility and air bases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur. Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said the country’s air force assets were safe after the Indian assault.
The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India.
Explosions in India-controlled Kashmir
After the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places, including the large cities of Srinagar and Jammu and the garrison town of Udhampur.
“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.”
Vaid said explosions were heard from areas with military bases, adding it appeared that army sites were targeted. Residents living near Srinagar’s airport, which is also an air base, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of jets.
“I was already awake, but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. They started crying,” said Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin.
Buildings were destroyed or damaged in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where powerful blasts ripped off roofs, windows and walls and left homes riddled with holes.
Villagers and rescuers in a district of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir sifted through the rubble of homes hit by overnight Indian shelling Friday as people carried the dead. Others surveyed the ruins.
Omar Abdullah, Indian-controlled Kashmir’s top elected official, welcomed the ceasefire. But he said had it happened two or three days earlier “we might have avoided the bloodshed and the loss of precious lives.”
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