India, Pakistan trade fire after deadly escalation

Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged gunfire overnight in Kashmir, New Delhi said on Thursday, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, with days of repeated gunfire along their border escalating into artillery shelling.

"We will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs," Sharif said, in an address to the nation.

India said it had destroyed nine "terrorist camps" in Pakistan in "focused, measured and non-escalatory" strikes, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir -- a charge Pakistan denies.

A damaged portion of an administration block at the Government Health and Education complex, after it was hit by an Indian strike, in Muridke near Lahore, Pakistan, on Wednesday. Reuters

At least 45 deaths have been reported from both sides of the border following Wednesday's violence, including children.

Islamabad said 31 civilians were killed by Indian strikes and firing along the border.

New Delhi said 13 civilians and a soldier had been killed by Pakistani fire.

Pakistan's military also said five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.

An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

Agence France-Presse