During a school assembly, Khyalmat was singled out and hit on the neck, head, face and back, local police said.

• India and Pakistan exchange major cross-border strikes, with both sides targeting military bases after Pakistan launched a new military operation, Bunyan-un-Marsoos.
• More than a dozen civilians killed in Kashmir, as artillery and missile fire continue overnight.
• Both nations signal conditional willingness to deescalate.
• Global powers urge restraint between the nuclear-armed rivals.

India and Pakistan – two nuclear-armed neighbours – are teetering on the brink of an all-out war after a dramatic escalation of strikes today.

Medium-range Fateh missiles were unleashed towards at least 25 military sites in India, including airbases and weapons depots in the Indian states of Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan and India-administered Kashmir.

The strikes – part of the newly-launched military operation, named Bunyan-un-Marsoos, meaning ‘solid wall of steel’ – were in response to attacks on Pakistani territory this week.

Shortly afterwards, India targeted multiple military bases in Pakistan, citing ‘blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions’ along the western borders.

Overnight, Indian and Pakistani troops also exchanged artillery and gunfire along the Line of Control that divides the disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistan’s disaster authority confirmed that 13 civilians have been killed and more than 50 injured in Kashmir in past 12 hours.

The heavy cross-border violence escalate the volatile standoff sparked by last month’s attack on tourists by five armed militants near Pahalgam in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 civilians were killed. 

Both nations have signalled a willingness to de-escalate if the other halts further aggression.

Yet, military mobilisations on the border and a retaliatory rhetoric suggest a deepening crisis with no clear cut-off.

Former Pakistan national security adviser, Moeed Yusuf, warned that ‘we are on the brink of an all-out war’.

He told SkyNews: ‘This is not a good situation, the world must wake up to the reality that two nuclear powers are on the brink of an all-out war.’

Yusuf claimed Pakistan ‘never wanted to escalate’ tensions and said now is the time for the two sides to ‘sit down and talk’.

He added: ‘I think the view in Pakistan is that enough is enough. We are not sacrificial lambs, we will stand up. If India does not respond now, I am sure Pakistan will say thank you, that is it.’

Hours after carrying out strikes on India, Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks.

Earlier, he told Pakistan’s Geo News: ‘We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping.’

Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif also told his country’s political leaders ‘we have given India a befitting response’.

India has also said it is committed to ‘non-escalation’, providing that rival forces reciprocated.

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh warned: ‘Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness.’

US secretary of state Marco Rubio spoke to Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir on Friday to offer American assistance ‘in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts’.

He spoke to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, stressing that ‘both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,’ State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Saturday.

The Group of Seven (G7) major economies had earlier called for maximum restraint from India and Pakistan, urging the neighbours to engage in direct dialogue.

‘Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability. We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides,’ according to the statement, which was posted in the official website of the government of Canada, a member of the G7.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

The decision comes amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by both countries, and has been the site of several wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.

Brits have been warned against travel

India has targeted Pakistani-controlled territory, killing at least 26 people including a child, in what Pakistan called an act of war.

India says it has targeted ‘terrorist infrastructure’.

On Tuesday, gunmen shot 26 people, mostly Indian tourists, in an attack near the picturesque town of Pahalgam.

A deadly attack which left 26 tourists dead in Kashmir has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan again.

Some are far-flung and exotic, but many are right on the UK’s doorstep.