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At least 26 people, including several children, have been killed and 46 injured after India launched attacks on what it claimed were nine sites of “terrorist infrastructure” inside Pakistan, in a sharp escalation of hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan declared the strikes to be an “act of war” and claimed it had shot down five Indian air force jets and a drone. “Pakistan gives a befitting reply to India,” said the Pakistan government in a statement.
India had accused Pakistan of involvement in an attack targeting Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month that killed 26 people. “We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” said the Indian defence ministry.
One Indian missile strike hit a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, killing 13 people, including two three-year-old girls. Other locations hit were near Muridke in Punjab and Kotli in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, where a strike on a mosque left several people, including a 16-year-old girl, dead.
In a press conference held by the Indian army on Wednesday morning, it claimed the overnight strikes had targeted “terrorist training camps” and “terrorists likely to be sent across to India”, mostly associated with the Islamist militant groups Lashkar-e-Taib and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Speaking at the press conference, Col Sudhir Chamoli alleged that Indian intelligence had uncovered evidence that “further attacks against India were impending” and said there was a compulsion for India “both to deter and pre-empt”.
“These actions were measured, not escalatory, proportionate and responsible,” Chamoli said of the Indian strikes.
However, Pakistan denied that any of the sites hit by missiles had been associated with terrorist infrastructure, calling the allegations “unsubstantiated and unreasonable”, and said six civilian areas had been targeted.
Pakistan said the strikes had been carried out from the Indian side of the border. “At no time, any of their aircraft were allowed to enter into Pakistan’s airspace and also at no time, none of Pakistan’s aircraft went into Indian airspace,” said Gen Ahmed Chaudhry, the director general of Pakistan’s inter-services public relations, the media wing of the military.
He said the Indian jets had been shot down by the Pakistan air force “when they attacked Pakistan, only after they released their weapons”.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, vowed to retaliate. “Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given,” he said.
“The Pakistani nation and the Pakistan armed forces know very well how to deal with the enemy,” he said. “We will never let the enemy succeed in its nefarious objectives.” The government held a meeting of the national security committee on Wednesday morning.
The missile attacks were reported at about 1am local time. Pictures shared on social media showed the bloody body of a dead child and a seriously injured adult lying on stretchers. In a video shared widely on X, a huge blast can be seen lighting up the night sky as smoke billows into the air.
Residents in the Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir reported heavy exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops on the line of control all through the night. The Indian army said that at least seven civilians had died and five had been injured in the cross-border shelling. On the Pakistan side, they said five civilians, including a five-year-old, had been killed.
According to reports, at least three Indian air force planes were brought down over Indian-administered Kashmir. In the village of Wuyan, Adnan Ahmad, 25, reported hearing a loud crash at about 1.40am.
“When I rushed to window I saw an aircraft in flames falling down,” he said. “There was another aircraft moving above the falling aircraft. The aircraft landed near a school building hitting trees. I rushed to the the crash spot along with other neighbours. There were multiple explosions from the fallen wreckage for around an hour.”
There was no immediate comment from India on the reports of the downed military aircraft. Locals reported that pieces of the aircraft were scattered throughout the village and there was a strong smell of jet fuel in the area.
On Wednesday morning, police and authorities blocked access to the main location of crash as they cleared the wreckage. Sources said the pilot of the aircraft had ejected safely and was receiving treatment at a nearby army hospital.
The strikes, carried out as part of “Operation Sindhoor”, were met with a chorus of approval across political lines in India. “The world must show zero tolerance for terrorism,” said India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, while the defence minister, Rajnath Singh, wrote on X: “Victory to Mother India”. Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the opposition Congress party, said India was “extremely proud of our Indian armed forces … We applaud their resolute resolve and courage”.
Several major airlines said they were suspending flights to Pakistan and over swathes of northern India until midday local time on Wednesday.
The escalation comes amid soaring tensions between the neighbours in the aftermath of the attack in the Baisaran Valley, a picturesque meadow in Pahalgam, a well-known tourist town in Kashmir.
India blamed Pakistan for the attack but Pakistan rejected the accusations. The two sides have exchanged nightly gunfire since 24 April along the line of control.
Wednesday’s missile strikes are a dangerous heightening of tension between the south Asian neighbours, who have fought multiple wars since they were carved out of British colonial India in 1947.
For days, the international community has piled pressure on Pakistan and India to step back from the brink of war. A UN spokesperson said that António Guterres, the UN secretary general, was “very concerned” about the Indian strikes across the international border and the line of control.
“He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries. The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the spokesperson said.
