WorthyNews: Clashes Despite US Brokered Ceasefire Between India and Pakistan

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Worthy News) – A U.S.-brokered truce between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan was violated just hours after the truce began, residents observed.

People living in the Indian city of in the disputed Kashmir region said Saturday they faced apparently Pakistani drone attacks with blasts being heard and projectiles seen in the sky.

India’s and Pakistan’s governments were yet to comment on the reported attacks which came in a week when cross border clashes reportedly killed scores of people.

Footage obtained by Worthy News purportedly showed Jammu, a city of some 500,000 people, facing a blackout as attacks persisted.

“What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!”, wrote Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on social media platform X.

In a following post, he posted a video of blasts being heard in the night sky, adding: “This is no ceasefire. The air defense units in the middle of Srinagar just opened up.”

It was not immediately clear whether Pakistan’s central command had ordered the attacks or whether rogue forces were involved in targeting India.

MILITARY STRIKES

Starting overnight Wednesday, India began military strikes using missiles, and then drones, against Pakistan which pledged ho respond to the violence at a time of its choosing.

Calling it “Operation Sindoor” India’s military said it targeted “nine terror posts” in Pakistan and “Pakistan occupied Kashmir” in surprise “precision” strikes on Wednesday.

India said its strikes were retaliation for a deadly terror attack in India-administered Kashmir blamed on Pakistan-backed militants that killed 26 tourists on April 22.

Though Islamabad denied wrongdoing, the two countries exchanged fire every night since, killing more than 70 people on both sides, most of them in Kashmir, a Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both.

It was not clear under what terms both countries agreed Saturday to a ceasefire to end the worst clashes in decades, but New Delhi said the two sides would resume talks on Monday.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump took to social welcom the announced truce writing: “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.”

Similarly, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations secretary-general said that the “secretary-general welcomes the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan as a positive step toward ending current hostilities and easing tensions. He hopes the agreement will contribute to lasting peace and foster an environment conducive to addressing broader, longstanding issues between the two countries.”

HIGH-LEVEL TALKS

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the accord came after extensive negotiations by him and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, with the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, and other top officials.

India and Pakistan have been locked in a dispute over Kashmir ever since they were born at the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan both rule part of Kashmir but claim it in full.

They have gone to war three times, including twice over Kashmir, alongside numerous smaller outbreaks of fighting.

India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. It also accuses Pakistani Islamist militant groups for attacks elsewhere in India.

Pakistan rejects both charges. It says it only provides moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.

Both sides have reportedly told U.S. negotiators they would be willing to “de-escalate” the conflict if the other side was willing to do the same.

Yet new clashes suggested the two remain far removed from a long-lasting peace.

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