India and Pakistan Announce Cease-Fire but Clashes Persist

India and Pakistan abruptly declared a cease-fire on Saturday after four days of rapidly escalating drone volleys, shelling and airstrikes that appeared to bring the old enemies to the brink of outright war. Hours later, each country accused the other of violating the deal.

The agreement and subsequent reports of cross-border firing came after four dizzying days of strikes by the nuclear-armed rivals that went deep into each other’s territories, and intense shelling on either side of India and Pakistan’s disputed Kashmir border that left many civilians dead, wounded or displaced. Adding to the bewilderment many people felt at the breakneck pace of events, the truce was initially announced not by India or Pakistan but by President Trump on social media.

And it was not clear, as night fell on Saturday, that the cease-fire would take hold in Kashmir, where a terrorist attack last month on the Indian-controlled side killed 26 people and set off the crisis. Cross-border firing was reported in both the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of the region, and India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, told a news conference that there had been “repeated violations” of the agreement.

He accused Pakistan of breaching the agreement and said India would “deal strongly” with the violations and respond.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry later said the country was “committed” to implementing the cease-fire and that its troops were acting responsibly, “notwithstanding the violations being committed by India in some areas.”