Kashmir is facing its worst crisis in a generation, political leaders warned on Saturday, as the UN offered to mediate in the rapidly deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.

The warning followed renewed gunfire across the border on Saturday morning in Jammu region, south of Kashmir, the latest exchange triggered by India’s so-called “surgical strikes” against terrorists inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir on Thursday.

No casualties were reported in the latest clashes, although thousands of villagers have already been evacuated from the de facto border amid fears of Pakistani military reprisals.