Pakistan says it has intelligence that India will launch a military strike within 36 hours

Pakistan's Information Minister says his country has "credible information" that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours.

Attaullah Tarar's comments come after India accused Pakistan of supporting militants behind an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists last week. Islamabad denies the allegations.

Tarar said that India intends to use the attack as a "false pretext" for an attack and that "any such military adventurism by India will be responded to with certainty and determination," the Telegraph reports.

The attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam was the deadliest attack on civilians in two decades in the disputed territory. Both India and Pakistan claim the region and have fought two wars over it.

Troops from both sides have exchanged small arms fire across the border in recent days.

There has been speculation about whether India will respond with military strikes against Pakistan, as it did after deadly militant attacks in 2019 and 2016.

Authorities said last week they had carried out extensive searches in Indian-administered Kashmir, detaining more than 1,500 people for questioning. More people have been detained since then, although the numbers are unclear.

Authorities have destroyed the homes of at least 10 suspected militants. At least one is said to have been linked to a suspect named in the shooting.

Kashmir, which India and Pakistan claim in full but only partially administer, has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed countries since they were divided in 1947.

Indian-administered Kashmir has seen an armed insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, with militants targeting security forces and civilians alike.

India has not named any group it suspects of carrying out the Pahalgam attack, and it remains unclear who carried it out. A little-known group called the Resistance Front, which was initially reported to have claimed responsibility for the shooting, issued a statement denying involvement. The front is said to be affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group.

Indian police have identified three of the four suspected attackers. They said two were Pakistani nationals and a local man from Indian-administered Kashmir. There is no information about the fourth man.

Many survivors said the gunmen specifically targeted Hindu men.

The attack has sparked widespread outrage in India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly saying the country would pursue the suspects "to the ends of the earth" and that those who planned and carried it out "will be punished beyond their imagination."