1 killed amid explosions, drone wreckage in Pakistan: Report

• Blasts heard in Lahore amid heightened tensions with India

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least one person was killed after Pakistani forces shot down a suspected Indian drone and recovered the wreckage of two others in the Punjab and Sindh provinces, local private broadcaster Geo TV reported Thursday.

Locals also heard three loud explosions in Punjab province’s capital, Lahore, according to reports.

Two casualties, including one death, were reported when a drone crashed near the Indian border in the Ghotki district of southern Sindh province, it reported, citing local police chief Samiullah Soomro.

The two were farmers and were toiling in a field when the drone crashed.

They were transported to a local hospital, where one of them was pronounced dead, the police said.

In another incident, the Pakistani army shot down a suspected Indian drone inside Pakistani territory in Punjab's Gujranwala district early Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner Naveed Ahmad told Geo News.

The drone's wreckage fell in a field, however, no casualty or damage was reported, said Ahmad.

Authorities also recovered the wreckage of a drone in the Dhman area of the Punjab's Chakwal district, the broadcaster reported, citing police sources.

No casualties were reported in the Dhman incident.

Locals heard at least three explosions near an airport in Lahore.

Amid the latest aerial incidents, Pakistan closed its airspace to all commercial flights Thursday morning, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

The latest developments come as tensions between the two nuclear neighbors have been running high after India launched strikes on several cities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

46 killed in Pakistan, divided Kashmir

At least 31 people were killed and 57 others injured in the missile strikes and cross-border firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to the Pakistani army.

One person was killed after the drone crash on Thursday in Ghotki district in Sindh.

According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, 13 people were killed in cross-border firing along the LoC, a de facto border that divides the disputed Himalayan region between the two archrivals.

Another 59 people were injured, the ministry said Thursday.

One Indian soldier was also killed along the LoC, the Indian army said Wednesday night.

The Indian military, in a separate statement, said Thursday that Pakistani army posts “resorted to unprovoked fire using small arms and artillery guns across the LoC” in areas opposite to Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, and Akhnoor areas in Jammu and Kashmir.

There was no immediate reaction from the Pakistani side.

In retaliation to Indian missile strikes on what New Delhi said were "nine terror locations," Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets and a combat drone.

New Delhi was yet to officially react to Islamabad's statement on the downing of the Indian aircraft, which included three French-made Rafale jets.

​​ *Ahmad Adil contributed from New Delhi