Winnipeggers worried about family as India-Pakistan tensions escalate
City residents call for peace as new clash breaks out in decades-long dispute over Kashmir
Some Winnipeggers from India and Pakistan say they're anxious as the armed confrontation between both countries escalates.
The Pakistani military said Thursday two civilians have died and four soldiers were wounded after India launched attack drones into the country, according to The Associated Press.
Those deaths come after Pakistan says at least 31 of its civilians were killed and about 50 wounded in strikes on Wednesday and in cross-border shelling across the frontier in Kashmir that followed, while India says 16 of its civilians died, including five children, and 59 were wounded.
The latest exchanges come after India said it hit "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for an April 22 attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in which 26 people — mostly Hindu tourists — were killed.
Pakistan denies any involvement in the attack in the long-disputed region, which has been at the centre of several armed clashes between both nuclear-armed countries in the decades since they gained independence.
Sukhmeet Singh, who has lived in Winnipeg for almost three years, still has a lot of family in Indian Punjab, which borders Pakistan, including his father. Singh said he's worried about their safety.
"They are doing blackout in [the cities of] Gurdaspur, Pathankot … from 9 to 5 p.m.," he said.
"They're giving [them] things to do, like get sufficient supply, stock … basic food, water and everything and get yourself a safe place, get your cars filled with gas in case they have to evacuate."
WATCH l Winnipeggers anxious about India-Pakistan tensions:
Jamil Mohammad, who is from Pakistani Punjab and has lived in Canada for about 25 years, is also worried. His native city of Bahawalpur was one of the places hit by Indian missile strikes Wednesday.
Mohammad said he first heard about it from his nephew, who is still in the city.
"I was very scared, because I have family over there in Bahawalpur, and also in Rawalpindi," where a drone fell, he said.
"I was shaking," Mohammad said. "Both sides, they are killing innocent people. So we are with the innocent people."
Indian authorities said Thursday the country shot down several drones aimed at military targets.
Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. said in a Thursday interview with CNN both sides have had contacts at the level of their respective national security councils, but he maintained it's India's responsibility to de-escalate tensions.
The United Nations and countries like China, Russia and the U.S. have urged both countries to act with restraint.
Both Mohammad and Singh said they would like to see other countries and the UN step in to mediate the conflict.
"I don't know what they [are] playing in that area, the government of Pakistan and government of India," Mohammad said. "But we want peace."
Singh said no one wins in a war.
"We are being separated by flags, but still the tears are same," he said. "We are being separated by the borders, but blood is same, so I think they should work on it."
With files from CBC's Mike Arsenault and The Associated Press