Blasts rang out across Indian Kashmir and Amritsar in neighbouring Punjab state on Friday night, with the Indian military saying it was shooting down drones in the worst fighting with Pakistan in nearly three decades.
The explosions in Amritsar - the first heard there in the three-day-old conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours - could mark a further expansion in the hostilities that have alarmed world powers, reports Reuters.
Projectiles and flashes were seen in the night sky above the Indian Kashmir city of Jammu. It was plunged into a blackout on the second night of blasts in the region's winter capital, officials and a Reuters journalist said.
"Drones have been sighted ... They are being engaged," said an Indian military official who asked not to be named.
The Indian army said in a statement late on Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across a wide area of India's west and northwest from Kashmir and states bordering Pakistan to the edge of the Arabian Sea.
Ten blasts were heard near the airport in the Indian Kashmir city of Srinagar and there were explosions in more locations in the contested region, other security officials added.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan. It had dismissed Indian accusations that it launched attacks on the same area on Thursday night.
NSA
