UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for ‘maximum restraint’ by India and Pakistan following the former’s ‘pre-emptive air strike’ across the Line of Control on Tuesday, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, IANS reported.
“I spoke to the Secretary-General not long ago, before he boarded his plane. He is obviously following the situation very closely and reiterates his urgent appeal to both the government of India and the government of Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint to ensure that the the situation does not further deteriorate,” he said, while speaking to reporters, according to the report.
When inquired about reports that there were 350 casualties, Dujarric said, “We don’t have any information on possible casualties. We have seen different press reports,” according to the report.
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On Tuesday, People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone Tuesday said the ‘pre-emptive air strikes’ carried out by the Indian Air Force on ‘terror camps’ in Pakistan ‘will set a benchmark for deterrence and eventually end the cycle of violence’.
“Pacifist to the core I am. But the reality as it stares in our faces is that this retaliatory action will actually be the start of the unlearning process for Pakistan. This will set the benchmark for deterrence. And eventually crowd out cycle of violence,” Lone said in a tweet.
Earlier, India has said that they carried out a pre-dawn strike on a ‘militant camp’ across the Line of Control soon after Pakistan army said that Indian fighter jets were forced to leave after they crossed the LoC in Muzaffarabad sector.
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According to reports, the strike was carried out at around 3:30 on Tuesday morning by 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets. The aircraft dropped, according to reports, ‘1,000 kg laser-guided bombs on a major militant camp across the Line of Control, completely destroying it’, news agency ANI reported, quoting Air Force sources.
Earlier, Pakistan Army claimed that the Indian military planes “intruded” from the Muzaffarabad sector but were forced to go back after Pakistan Air Force “immediately scrambled”.
