India fired missiles across the border into Pakistan-administered Kashmir early Wednesday, killing at least 8 people, Pakistani security officials said. India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants.
At least three civilians were also killed in shelling by Pakistani troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said in a statement, reports AP and agencies.
The attacks, labeled Operation Sindoor, targeted nine sites of “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Indian Defense Ministry. No Pakistani military facilities were targeted, the Indian Defense Ministry said, calling their actions “focused, measured and non-escalatory.”
India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since gaining independence from the British in 1947. Both claim Kashmir in full but administer separate portions of the disputed region.
The Pakistani army said India struck six locations, including Kotli, Muzaffarabad and Bahawalpur. At least eight people were killed, including a 3-year-old, and another 35 injured, according to the Pakistani army, which claimed civilian buildings were targeted.
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has shot down five Indian jets in response to the Indian overnight strikes, said the military sources, adding that four Indian quadcopters were destroyed at two locations in Pakistan for violating the country’s airspace, reports Xinhua from ISLAMABAD.
Pakistan condemned India’s unprovoked and blatant act of war and violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.
US president Donald Trump at the White House reacted and said “It’s a shame, we just heard about it,” after the Indian government said it had hit “terrorist camps” on its western neighbor’s territory following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“I guess people knew something was going to happen based on the past. They’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it,” he added.
“I just hope it ends very quickly,” said Trump.
In a statement, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said that the Indian Air Force has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Bahawalpur and Sheikhupura districts in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, as well as Muzaffarabad, Bagh, and Kotli districts in the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
The U.S. secretary of state says in a post on X that “I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely.”
Rubio continued: “I echo @POTUS’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.”
Trump said earlier Tuesday that he hopes the fighting “ends very quickly” and called it “a shame.”
A deadly attack on tourists in the disputed region of Kashmir last month plunged relations between India and Pakistan to new lows. India accuses Pakistan of backing the massacre, in which 26 men, mostly Indian hindus, were killed, a charge Pakistan denies. Both countries subsequently expelled diplomats and citizens, ordered the border shut and closed their airspace for each other.
Pakistan’s military spokesperson said the attacks Wednesday killed eight people and injured 38 others. India’s Defense Ministry said at least nine sites were targeted “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said “Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given.” The Indian army said that Pakistan fired artillery shells along what’s known as the de facto border in Bhimber Gali in India-controlled Kashmir.
India’s armed forces launched missiles against what it described as infrastructure used by militants inside Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir early Wednesday.
Pakistan condemned India’s unprovoked and blatant act of war and violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, reports Xinhua from ISLAMABAD.
In a statement, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said that the Indian Air Force has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Bahawalpur and Sheikhupura districts in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, as well as Muzaffarabad, Bagh, and Kotli districts in the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Islamabad has informed the U.N. Security Council about the Indian attacks and the threat it poses to international peace and security. The ministry says in a statement that the Security Council was told that “Pakistan reserves the right to respond appropriately to this aggression at a time and place of its choosing.”
Pakistan’s defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif late Tuesday said Pakistan would give a full response to Indian missile strikes, both at military and diplomatic fronts.
Talking to a private television channel, he said India did not have enough courage to use Pakistan’s airspace due to the vigilance of Pakistan Air Force. He said India had fired missiles from its airspace, targeting civilians including children and women. He invited the foreign media to visit various places where civilian population was targeted by missile attacks. The Defence Minister reiterated that an international investigation needed to be conducted into the Pahalgam incident.
“Pakistan will give a full response to India, and the ‘debt’ will be paid off very soon,” he warned India.
Meanwhile Press Trust of India (PTI) from NEW DELHI adds : Two weeks after the horrific Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile attacks early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Bahawalpur which is a major base of Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit.
It said the actions by the Indian Armed forces have been “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”. “No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the Indian Army said.
India’s actions came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack triggered widespread outrage in India and abroad. “These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered,” the Army said in the statement. “We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” it said.
The top military brass of India was closely monitoring the operation, people familiar with the matter said. In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass, Prime Minister Modi on April 29 gave the armed forces “complete operational freedom” to decide on the mode, targets and timing of the response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Modi also emphasised the national resolve to deal a “crushing blow to terrorism”.
Indian security officials say that army, navy and air force personnel used precision strike weapon systems, including drones, to carry out the strikes, AP adds from New Delhi.
The officials said that intelligence agencies provided coordinates for the strikes and that all operations were executed from Indian territory. The officials said the strikes targeted the headquarters of militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke.