EPAMohammed Waheed was fast asleep at his home in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the early hours of Wednesday morning when a huge blast shook his home.
“Before we could even process what was happening, more missiles struck, causing widespread panic and chaos,” he told the BBC, adding that he had jumped out of bed and run outside along with his family and neighbours.
“Children were crying, women were running around, trying to find safety.”
Mr Waheed lives in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir – it is one of at least three places that were hit by Indian missile strikes on Wednesday.
The Indian military said it carried out the strikes in response to a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 civilians. It has blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for the attacks, accusing Islamabad of tacitly supporting them – a charge Pakistan has consistently denied.
The BBC spoke to witnesses in both Indian and Pakistan administered Kashmir who described the strikes by India as well as the aftermath of shelling by Pakistan.
Pakistan said eight civilians were killed and 35 others injured as a result of the strikes this morning, according to Islamabad.
India’s army has also said that at least seven civilians have been killed by Pakistani shelling on its side of the Line of Control (LoC) – the de facto border between both countries.
‘Killed while making tea’
Ruby Kaur, who lived in India’s Poonch district along the LoC has been identified as one of the Indians who has been killed.
Her uncle, Buava Singh, told the BBC that a mortar shell struck near Ms Kaur’s house around 1:45 am, killing her on the spot and injuring her daughter.
“Her husband was not keeping well. She woke up to make tea for him when the mortar shell landed close to her house,” he said.
He added that the heavy shelling on Wednesday morning was something “we have never seen so far”. Singh says that there were no community bunkers in the area, which meant residents were forced to take shelter in their homes.
“The shrapnel hit her head. She was bleeding heavily. We rushed her to a nearby hospital, but she was declared dead,” Mr Singh said.
Another resident from Poonch said they heard “loud explosions for hours on Wednesday night”.
“It was a panicky situation across the city and other areas close to the Line of Control (LoC),” Dr Zamrood Mughal said over phone.
“People couldn’t sleep the entire night. People abandoned their homes and ran for safer places. A shell hit the main town near the forest office and damaged the nearby structure.”
Reuters‘Terrified of what might come next’
Muhammad Younis Shah in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, described how four missiles fired by India landed on an educational complex in the Nangal Sahadan suburb, destroying a mosque in the process.
“There is a school and college for children, a hostel, and a medical complex here,” he says. “The first three missiles came in succession, while the fourth missile came with an interval of five to seven minutes.”
While rescue operations in the are underway, locals say they are anticipating further escalation of the violence, and terrified of what may come next.
“We’re terrified, and we don’t know what to do,” says Mr Waheed. “People are fleeing their homes and the sense of uncertainty is overwhelming.””
His fellow Muzaffarabad resident Shahnawaz echoes this, saying he and his family were now “desperately searching for safe locations”.
“We were anticipating something would happen, and now we’re gripped with fear of further escalations.”
Delhi emphasised its actions on Wednesday were “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”, but locals in the targeted areas in Pakistan-administered Kashmir say that their mosques and residential complexes were among the sites hit.
Mr Waheed told the BBC he could not fathom why his local mosque was hit in the strike which he claims injured “dozens of men and women” in his neighbourhood in Muzaffarabad.
“It’s hard to understand,” he says. “It was a normal street mosque where we prayed five times a day. We never saw any suspicious activity around it.”
Delhi emphasised its actions on Wednesday targeted terrorist infrastructure and said thee were chosen “based on credible intelligence inputs”.
But locals in the targeted areas in Pakistan-administered Kashmir say that their mosques and residential complexes were among the sites hit.
Mr Waheed cannot fathom why his local mosque was hit, which injured “dozens of men and women” in his neighbourhood in Muzaffarabad.
“It’s hard to understand,” he says. “It was a normal street mosque where we prayed five times a day. We never saw any suspicious activity around it.”
