Pakistan said on Thursday it shot down 25 drones from India in its airspace, while India said it "neutralized" Pakistan's attempts to strike military targets with drones and missiles, as fighting spread between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

By Mubasher Bukhari, Tanvi Mehta and Surbhi Misra LAHORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Thursday it shot down 25 drones from India in its airspace while India said it "neutralised" Pakistan's attempts to strike military targets with drones and missiles,

Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen sharply in the weeks since a terrorist attack in Kashmir. On Wednesday, India hit Pakistan and appears to have lost aircraft in the strike.

Earlier on Wednesday, India said it had launched strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to last month's militant attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Delhi blames Islamabad for the killings - a charge it denies.

New Delhi controls around 172 nuclear weapons, according to the Arms Control Association. Pakistan has approximately 170 nuclear warheads. India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed nations, saw a decades-old conflict reignite May 7 as a terror attack in the disputed region of Kashmir led India to carry out cross-border airstrikes.

Pakistan's armed forces launched "multiple attacks" using drones and other munitions along India's entire western border on Thursday night and early Friday, the Indian army said, as conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours intensified.