India and Pakistan trade fire and accusations as fears of a wider military confrontation rise

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — India fired attack drones into Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least two civilians, the Pakistani military said. India, meanwhile, accused its neighbor of attempting its own attack, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals.

India acknowledged that it targeted Pakistan’s air defense system, and Islamabad said it shot down several of the drones. India said it “neutralized” Pakistan’s attempts to hit military targets. It was not possible to verify all of the claims.

The exchanges came a day after Indian missiles struck several locations in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. New Delhi said it was retaliating after gunmen killed more than two dozen people, mostly Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir last month. India accused Pakistan of being behind the assault. Islamabad denies that.

Both sides have also traded heavy fire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir, and Pakistan claimed it killed scores of Indian soldiers. There was no confirmation from India.

Late Thursday, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents of the city of Jammu reported explosions and sirens, followed by a blackout.

India’s Headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, a central coordinating arm for all Indian armed forces, said military stations in Jammu, Udhampur and Pathankot were targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones. It said the attacks were repelled and no casualties were reported.

Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former director-general of police, told The Associated Press that the Jammu Airport likely was also under attack and that some of the 50 loud explosions he heard likely were because “our defense system is at work.”

Jammu and Udhampur are close to the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan. Pathankot is in India's Punjab state.

Sirens were also heard in some parts of the region’s main city of Srinagar, residents said. It was followed by a blackout in the city and other parts of the region.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement rejected the Indian claims that Pakistan launched attacks on Pathankot, Jaisalmer and Srinagar, saying “these claims are entirely unfounded, politically motivated, and part of a reckless propaganda campaign aimed at maligning Pakistan".

It added that “such actions not only further endanger regional peace but also reveal a disturbing willingness to exploit misinformation for political and military ends”.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to avenge the deaths in India's missile strikes, raising fears that the two countries could be headed toward another all-out conflict. Leaders from both nations face mounting public pressure to show strength and seek revenge, and the heated rhetoric and competing claims could be a response to that pressure.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Thursday to the Pakistani prime minister and India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, urging both sides to de-escalate the situation, the U.S. State Department said.

The relationship between countries has been shaped by conflict and mutual suspicion, most notably in their dispute over Kashmir. They have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.

With tensions high, India evacuated thousands of people from villages near the highly militarized frontier in the region. Tens of thousands of people slept in shelters overnight, officials and residents said Thursday.

About 2,000 villagers also fled their homes in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Mohammad Iftikhar boarded a vehicle with his family on Thursday as heavy rain lashed the region. “I am helplessly leaving my home for the safety of my children and wife,” he said.

India fired several Israeli-made Harop drones at Pakistan overnight and into Thursday afternoon, according to Pakistani army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, who said 29 were shot down. Two civilians were killed and another wounded when debris from a downed drone fell in Sindh province.

One drone damaged a military site near the city of Lahore and wounded four soldiers, and another fell in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital, according to Sharif. “The armed forces are neutralizing them as we speak,” he told state-run Pakistan Television.

In Lahore, local police official Mohammad Rizwan said a drone was downed near Walton Airport, an airfield in a residential area about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the border with India that also contains military installations.

India’s Defense Ministry said its armed forces “targeted air defense radars and systems" in several places in Pakistan, including Lahore.

New Delhi, meanwhile, accused Pakistan of attempting “to engage a number of military targets” with missiles and drones along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir and elsewhere along their border. “The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations,” it said.

At a news briefing, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday rejected India’s claim that Islamabad carried out any attack in Indian Punjab. “These accusations are an attempt to incite anti-Pakistan sentiment among the Punjabi Sikh population in India,” he said.

Seated alongside Dar, the military spokesperson, Sharif said Pakistan shot down 29 Indian drones after they violated its airspace.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that so far Pakistan has not responded to India’s missiles attacks, but there will be one. Later Thursday, Indian authorities ordered a night-time blackout in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, which borders Pakistan.

The Harop drone, produced by Israel’s IAI, is one of several in India’s inventory, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report.

According to IAI, the Harop combines the capabilities of a drone and a missile and can operate at long ranges.

The two sides have also exchanged heavy fire over the past day.

Tarar said that the country’s armed forces have killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers in the exchanges along the Line of Control. India has not commented on that claim. Earlier, the army said one Indian soldier was killed by shelling Wednesday.

Tarar denied Indian accusations that Pakistan had fired missiles toward the Indian city of Amritsar, saying in fact an Indian drone fell in the city. Neither claim could be confirmed.

India’s Foreign Ministry has said that 16 civilians were killed Wednesday during exchanges of fire across the de facto border.

Pakistani officials said six people have been killed near the highly militarized frontier in exchanges of fire over the past day.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri denied that New Delhi has targeted civilians and a key dam, as Pakistan has alleged. He, in turn, accused Pakistani forces of targeting civilians, including at a Sikh Temple in Kashmir, where he said three Sikhs were killed.

Flights remained suspended at over two dozen airports across northern and western regions in India, according to travel advisories by multiple airlines. Pakistan resumed flights nationwide after a suspension at four airports, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad; Saaliq reported from New Delhi and Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Associated Press writers Rajesh Roy in New Delhi, and Ishfaq Hussain and Roshan Mughal in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Traders burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an anti-India demonstration, in Mulan, Pakistan, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Students place candles during a candle light vigil for children killed in the Indian missile strikes, in Islamabad, Pakistan Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

People stand over Pakistani flags and holding Indian national flags chant slogans in favor of the Indian Army as they celebrate the success of 'Operation Sindoor', in Guwahati, India, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

People holding Indian national flags rally's in support of the Indian Army as they celebrate the success of 'Operation Sindoor', in Guwahati, India, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Sanjeev Barghava, left, performs the last rites of his son Vihaan Barghava, 13, killed in Pakistani artillery shelling in Poonch along the Line of Control, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard as investigators collect pieces of a suspected Indian drone at the site of a drone crash in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Rubina Begum wails as she stands outside her house damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling, at Salamabad village in Uri ,north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Pakistani investigators examine at a cordoned off site, where Pakistan's air defense system shot down a suspected Indian drone, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Mohammad Sahil reacts as he stands inside his house damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling, at Salamabad village in Uri, north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Mohammad Sahil reacts as he stands inside his house damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling, at Salamabad village in Uri, north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Pakistani investigators examine at a cordoned off site, where Pakistan's air defense system shot down a suspected Indian drone, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

A Kashmiri village boy walks inside a house damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling, at Salamabad village in Uri ,north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A big hole is seen on a rooftop of a house suspected to have been damaged in Indian drone attack as residents, behind, gather near a cordoned off site, where Pakistan's air defense system shot down a suspected Indian drone in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Vendors sort for distribution in Guwahati, India, news papers leading with reports of India firing missiles early Wednesday into Pakistani-controlled territory, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)