Pakistan's army said Thursday it shot down 25 Indian drones, 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, escalating days of gunfire along their border.
At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday's violence, including children. Pakistan's military said in a statement Thursday that it had "so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones" at multiple location across the country.
"Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations," Pakistan's military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said from the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, where a drone was downed.
"One managed to engage in a military target near Lahore," he said, adding that four troops in the city were injured.
He earlier said the operation was ongoing. One civilian was killed and another injured in Sindh as a result of the drone incidents.
Crowds gathered at crash sites, some close to army installations, to gaze at the debris. Blasts could be heard across Lahore. The Civil Aviation Authority said Karachi airport was closed until 6 pm (1300 GMT), while Islamabad and Lahore were briefly shut "for operational reasons".
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