Blasts have rung out across Indian Kashmir and the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in neighbouring Punjab state, with the Indian military saying they were shooting down drones in the worst fighting with Pakistan in nearly three decades.
The explosions in Amritsar - the first heard in the three-day-old conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours - could mark a further expansion in the hostilities that have alarmed world powers.
Projectiles and flashes were seen in the night sky above the Indian Kashmir city of Jammu that was plunged into a blackout in 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.
Ten blasts were heard near the airport in the Indian Kashmir city of Srinagar and there were explosions in a dozen other locations in the contested region, other security officials added.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan which dismissed Indian accusations that it had launched attacks on the same area last night.
It comes as Pakistan charged India with bringing the nuclear-armed neighbours "closer to a major conflict", as the death toll from three days of missile, artillery and drone attacks passed 50.
The bloody escalation follows an attack on tourists last month in the Indian-run part of disputed Kashmir that killed 26 people, and which New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing - an allegation that Pakistan denied.
India responded with air strikes on Wednesday on what it called "terrorist camps" in Pakistan, killing more than 20 civilians and fuelling the worst clashes between the two countries in decades.
"We will not de-escalate, with the damages they did on our side they should take a hit," Pakistan's military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told media today.
"So far we have been protecting ourselves but they will get an answer in our own timing."
On a third day of tit-for-tat exchanges, the Indian army said earlier that it had "repulsed" waves of Pakistani attacks using drones and other munitions overnight, and gave a "befitting reply".
It is the most serious confrontation in decades between the two countries, which have fought several wars over Muslim-majority Kashmir - which is divided between the two.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said today that India's "reckless conduct has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict".
Most of the more than 50 deaths were in Pakistan during Wednesday's air strikes by India and included children.
Today, Pakistani security and government officials said five civilians - including a two-year-old girl - were killed by Indian shelling overnight in areas along the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC), which separates the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.
On the other side, a police official said one woman was killed and two men were wounded by heavy overnight shelling.
Pakistani military sources said that its forces had shot down 77 Indian drones in the last two days, with debris of many incursions seen by AFP in cities across the country.
Meanwhile, India said 300-400 drones had attempted to cross into its territory, and also accused Pakistani forces of targeting three military stations yesterday.
Pakistan's military said on Wednesday that five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims, while a military source said three jets had crashed on home territory.
Both sides have made repeated claims and counter-claims that are difficult to verify.
Militants have stepped up operations in Muslim-majority Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government revoked its limited autonomy and took the state under direct rule from New Delhi.
Pakistan has rejected claims by New Delhi that it was behind last month's attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, when gunmen killed 26 people, mainly male Hindu tourists.
India blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba - a UN-designated terrorist organisation - for the attack.
Schools were closed on both sides of the Pakistan and Indian border in Kashmir and Punjab today, affecting tens of millions of children.
India has also closed 24 airports, but according to local media the suspension on civilian flights may be lifted tomorrow morning.
The conflict has caused major disruption to international aviation, with airlines having to cancel flights or use longer routes that do not fly over the Indian-Pakistan frontier.
The mega Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament was suspended for a week, the Indian cricket board announced, a day after a fixture was abandoned in Dharamsala, less than 200kms (125 miles) from Jammu, where explosions had been reported.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Super League was moved to the United Arab Emirates, after an Indian drone struck Rawalpindi stadium yesterday.
