The weeks-long confrontation between India and Pakistan escalated further on Saturday, with Islamabad launching a military operation in retaliation to what it said were Indian strikes on its military bases overnight.

The nuclear-armed neighbors are now locked in their most expansive military conflict in decades, even as the international community calls for calm and restraint.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has offered Washington’s help in mediating amid the escalations.

Here’s what to know about the latest exchanges:

• Pakistan’s military said early Saturday it had launched an operation against India, in retaliation to India launching missiles at key military bases, including one close to the capital Islamabad. Pakistan said its air defenses had intercepted most of India’s missiles.
• Hours later, explosions were reported in India-administered Kashmir, including Srinagar, the region’s largest city, and the city of Jammu. The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear.
• Pakistan’s military claims “Operation Bunyan Marsus,” which means “Iron Wall,” has hit multiple targets in India and India-administered Kashmir, including a brigade headquarters, a field supply depot, an artillery gun position, a missile battery site and three airfields.
• India “effectively countered and responded” to Pakistan’s military operation, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh claimed during a media briefing in New Delhi, alleging that Islamabad’s forces “targeted civilian areas and military infrastructure,” including medical and educational buildings in India-administered Kashmir.
• Pakistan’s foreign minister said if India stops its escalatory actions, so will Islamabad. “If there is an iota of sanity, India will stop and if they stop, so will we,” Ishaq Dar told a local TV station.
• Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the country’s highest decision-making authority on nuclear and missile policy issues.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered US mediation in the escalating conflict while speaking separately with his counterparts in both countries, according to State Department readouts.
• Foreign ministers of the G7 countries along with European Union released a joint statement urging India and Pakistan to exercise “maximum restraint” and called for “immediate de-escalation.”
• China said it is “deeply concerned” about escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, and vowed to play a “constructive role” in de-escalation.

(Source: CNN)