Top Asian News 1:43 a.m. GMT

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 and Pakistan don’t fight wars like other countries. Here’s why

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since they gained independence from British India in 1947. They’ve also had dozens of skirmishes and conflicts, including one atop a glacier dubbed the coldest and highest-altitude battlefield in the world. The latest escalation follows a deadly gun attack on tourists that India blames Pakistan for — Islamabad denies any connection. But they don’t fight wars like other countries. The dominant factor is their nuclear weapons arsenal, a distinct way of deterring major attacks and a guarantee that fighting doesn’t get out of hand, even when the situation is spiraling.

India suspends flight operations and closes 24 airports as Pakistan resumes flights nationwide

NEW DELHI (AP) — Airlines in India have suspended flight operations from two dozen airports across northern and western regions of the country amid heightened tensions with Pakistan. India’s Civil Aviation Ministry late Thursday confirmed in a statement the temporary closure of 24 airports. Pakistan, meanwhile, resumed flights nationwide after a suspension at four airports, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. In advisories to passengers, India’s key domestic airlines said their flights would remain suspended until Saturday from airports including Amritsar in northern Punjab and Srinagar in India-controlled Kashmir, bordering Pakistan. Indigo, the country’s biggest domestic carrier, on Wednesday canceled 165 flights, while Air India and Air India Express had a similar number of cancellations.

AP PHOTOS: India and Pakistan trade fire as tensions flare

India fired attack drones into Pakistan on Thursday, the Pakistani military said, while India accused its neighbor of attempting its own attack as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Many in Kashmir fear the deadly India-Pakistan escalation heralds another war

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Poet Zareef Ahmed Zareef has watched India and Pakistan fight for decades over his homeland, the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. He was born in 1947, the same year India and Pakistan became independent nations and British colonial rule ended. The two nuclear-armed neighbors have since fought two wars over Kashmir, which is split between them but claimed by both in its entirety. Now the 78-year-old worries this week’s dramatic escalation heralds yet another war. “We’ve been told that Kashmir is paradise on earth,” he said. “But for us, it’s living in a permanent fear of hell.

The Latest: India fires missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory after massacre of tourists

North Korea says leader Kim supervised missile tests simulating nuclear strikes against rivals

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised tests of short-range ballistic missile systems that simulated nuclear counterstrikes against U.S. and South Korean forces, state media said Friday, as the North continued to blame its rivals for escalating tensions through their joint military exercises. The report came a day after South Korea’s military detected multiple launches from North Korea’s eastern coast and assessed that the tests could also be related to the country’s weapons exports to Russia during its war in Ukraine. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday’s tests involved a mobile ballistic missile system apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander, as well as 600-millimeter multiple rocket launchers that South Korean officials classify as ballistic due to their self-propulsion and guided flight.

A deadly attack on tourists preceded India’s strikes on Pakistan. Here’s where the rivals stand

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Pakistan have been scrambling resources both military and diplomatic to respond to a crisis triggered by a massacre in Indian-controlled Kashmir that for days have raised fears of a conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals. On Wednesday, Pakistani officials said India fired missiles that struck at least three locations inside Pakistani-controlled territory. India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants. India blames Pakistan for backing the gunmen behind the April 22 killing of 26 people, most of them Indian Hindu tourists, and has described it as a terror attack. Islamabad denies the charge. Both countries have expelled each other’s diplomats and nationals, as well as closed their borders and shuttered airspace.

Nagasaki extends invitation ‘to all countries’ to memorial marking A-bomb anniversary

TOKYO (AP) — The mayor of Nagasaki on Thursday announced that the city will invite representatives “of all countries” and regions to the peace memorial marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city. The invitation to the 157 countries and regions that have diplomatic missions in Japan will include Russia, Belarus and Israel, who were excluded last year. Mayor Shiro Suzuki said he wants all representatives to see the brutal consequences of atomic weapons use as a lesson at a time of growing divisions and conflicts. The United States dropped its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on Aug.

South Korea says North Korea has fired several missiles toward its eastern waters

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Thursday fired various types of short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said, adding to a run in military displays that raised animosities in the region. South Korean military officials were analyzing whether the tests were linked to the North’s weapons exports to Russia during its war in Ukraine. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said multiple missiles were launched from the area around the eastern port city of Wonsan from about 8:10 to 9:20 a.m., with the farthest traveling about 800 kilometers (497 miles). It didn’t immediately confirm the exact number of the missiles it detected.