Indian military says Pakistani troops fired at positions along the border in disputed Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Pakistani soldiers fired at Indian posts along the highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir for a second consecutive night, the Indian military said Saturday, as tensions flared between the nuclear-armed rivals following a deadly attack on tourists last week.

India described the massacre, in which gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian tourists, as a “terror attack” and accused Pakistan of backing it.

Pakistan denies the charge. The assault, near the resort town of Pahalgam in India-controlled Kashmir, was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.

It was the restive region’s worst assault targeting civilians in years. In the days since, tensions have risen dangerously between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. The region is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.

The Indian army said Saturday that soldiers from multiple Pakistani army posts overnight opened fire at Indian troops “all across the Line of Control” in Kashmir. “Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” the statement said. There were no casualties reported, the statement added.

There was no comment from Pakistan, and the incidents could not be independently verified. In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.

Markets and bazaars were open in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday, and there was no sign of evacuations from villages near the Line of Control.

After the tourist attack, India suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty and closed the only functional land border crossing. It revoked visas issued to Pakistanis with effect from Sunday.

Pakistan retaliated by canceling visas issued to Indians, closing its airspace to Indian airlines, and suspending trade with its neighbor. Nationals from both sides began heading to their home countries through the Wagah border near Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Friday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday vowed the government would respond “with full force and might” to Indian attempts to stop or divert the flow of water.

He also said Pakistan was open to participating in any "neutral, transparent and credible investigation” into the tourist attack.

On Saturday, a Pakistani official from the disaster management agency, Saeed Qureshi, accused India of suddenly releasing large amounts of water into the Jhelum River, raising fears of flooding in parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Authorities told residents living along the riverbank to evacuate, Qureshi said. A spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

New Delhi describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism, a charge Pakistan rejects. Many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.

Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989 for uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

With tensions high, Iran offered mediation, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected them to work out their differences.

“Tehran stands ready to use its good offices in Islamabad and New Delhi to forge greater understanding at this difficult time,” Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.

“India and Pakistan are brotherly neighbors of Iran. Like other neighbors, we consider them our foremost priority,” Araghchi wrote in a social media post.

Trump on Friday said “there’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been.”

Trump, who spoke on board Air Force One, did not answer when asked by reporters whether he would contact leaders of the two countries, but said “they’ll get it figured out one way or the other.”

The U.S. has long called for calm between India and Pakistan, and mediated during a major border skirmish in 1999.

U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard expressed solidarity with India in its hunt for the perpetrators of the recent attack.

After Tuesday’s assault, Indian forces intensified a crackdown in the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion. They detained and questioned at least 1,500 people, three police officials said.

Troops detonated explosives in the family homes of at least three suspected militants in southern Kashmir Friday night, residents said. In one such incident, dozens of other houses also suffered damage, with their windowpanes shattering and walls cracking due to the impact of the blast.

The police officials insisted on anonymity, in keeping with their departmental policy, while the villagers feared reprisals from authorities.

Early Friday, troops also destroyed the family homes of two suspected militants they accused of being involved in Tuesday’s attack.

Indian troops demolish homes as a common anti-militancy tactic in Kashmir.

Roy reported from New Delhi and Ahmed from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Ishfaq Hussain contributed to this story from Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.

A relative of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, wails after Indian forces blew up the family home at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A Kashmiri villager stands amid the debris of the blown-up family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Relatives of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, wail after after Indian forces blew up the family home at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri villagers inspect the debris of the blown-up family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, seen through the window of partially damaged house of a neighbor at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

The school uniform lies scattered in a neighbouring house is seen after Indian forces blew up the family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri villagers inspect the debris of the blown-up family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri villagers inspect the debris of the blown-up family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

The damage in a neighbouring house is seen after Indian forces blew up the family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Relatives of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, wail after after Indian forces blew up the family home at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Blown-up family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, is seen at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri men salvage items in a neighbouring house after Indian forces blew up the family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Relatives of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, wail after after Indian forces blew up the family home at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri villager inspect the debris of the blown-up family home of Ahsan Ul Haq Shiekh, a militant who officials say is involved in the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, at Murran village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at the banks of Dal Lake as Indian tourists take boat rides in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Paramilitary soldiers board a patrol boat as Indian tourists take boat rides on Dal Lake in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible.

Israel’s Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.

The 24-year-old singer has done few media interviews or appearances during Eurovision week, as Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop music competition draws protests for a second year.

Raphael is due to perform Thursday in the second semifinal at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel. Oddsmakers suggest Raphael, a survivor of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on a music festival in southern Israel that started the war, is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her anthemic song “New Day Will Rise.”

Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But last year’s event in Sweden drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The Oct. 7 cross-border attacks by Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, and roughly 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.

About 200 people, many draped in Palestinian flags, protested in central Basel on Wednesday evening, demanding an end to Israel’s military offensive and the country’s expulsion from Eurovision. They marched in silence down a street noisy with music and Eurovision revelry.

Many noted that Russia was banned from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”

Others have criticized hostility toward the Israeli contestant. Israel's public broadcaster KAN complained to Swiss police about an alleged threatening gesture made toward Raphael by a pro-Palestinian protester during the opening Eurovision parade on Sunday.

German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer told parliament on Wednesday that “the boycott calls, the threats, also the verbal attacks on the singer from Israel, who herself only survived Hamas’ mass murder at the Nova music festival because she hid under corpses, are from my point of view an intolerable scandal.”

Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and has rehearsed with background noise so she won't be distracted.

“But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she said.

Anti-Israel protests in Basel have been much smaller than last year in Malmo. Another protest is planned for Saturday in downtown Basel, 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the contest venue, St. Jakobshalle arena.

But concern by some Eurovision participants and broadcasters continues.

More than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. Several of the national broadcasters that fund Eurovision, including those of Spain, Ireland and Iceland, have called for a discussion about Israel’s participation.

Swiss singer Nemo, who brought the competition to Switzerland by winning last year, told HuffPost UK that “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”

At Wednesday’s protest, Basel resident Domenica Ott held a handmade sign saying “Nemo was right.”

She said the nonbinary singer was “very courageous.”

“If Russia couldn’t participate, why should Israel?” she said.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by broadcaster KAN, not the government. It has called on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.

Associated Press journalists Hilary Fox and Kwiyeon Ha in Basel and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

A protester raises a Palestinian flag, during the opening ceremony of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (Til Buergy/Keystone via AP)

Pro Palestinian protesters demonstrate, during the opening ceremony of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, May 11, 2025. Sign read, '11th Commandment: Israel is allowed to do everything.' (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)

Israel's Yuval Raphael poses for a photo, during the opening ceremony of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP)

Yuval Raphael from Israel performs the song "New Day Will Rise" during the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Yuval Raphael from Israel performs the song "New Day Will Rise" during the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)