At least eight people have been killed and 35 injured after India launched missile strikes on nine sites of “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, marking a sharp escalation in hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Loud explosions were reported in the early hours of Wednesday, knocking out power in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. BBC reported quoting witnesses.
New Delhi confirmed the operation, dubbed Operation Sindoor, stating it was a response to last month’s deadly attack tourists in Pahalgam, which left 26 people dead.
“The Indian armed forces have struck terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where attacks against India have been orchestrated,” a government statement said. “Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory. No Pakistani military facilities were targeted. India has shown considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution.”
In response, Pakistani military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry claimed that at least two Indian Air Force jets had been shot down, calling India’s actions a “heinous provocation”, BBC reported.
Exchanges of fire were also reported along the line of control in Kashmir, with residents in the Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir confirming shelling from both sides.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the strikes, declaring: “Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given.”
The missile strikes came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a speech in Delhi, vowed to stop water from flowing across India’s borders. The speech followed India’s suspension of its participation in the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty, a key agreement governing water sharing between the two countries. “India’s water used to flow out – now it will flow for India,” Modi said.
Pakistan had previously warned that interference with rivers flowing into its territory would amount to an “act of war”.
Pakistan rejected these claims. “None of the sites hit were military installations,” said Asif. “I invite both international and domestic media to visit these locations and see for themselves—these were all civilian targets.”
Images and videos circulating on social media showed casualties, including a bloodied child and other injured civilians, as well as large nighttime explosions lighting up the sky.
Soon after the missile strikes, India accused Pakistan of violating the ceasefire agreement with artillery fire in the Poonch-Rajauri sector along the heavily militarised line of control. The Indian army said it was “responding appropriately in a calibrated manner”.
Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry accused India of endangering commercial air traffic by launching strikes from within Indian airspace. “This reckless escalation has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict,” the ministry warned.
Qatar Airways temporarily suspended flights to Pakistan, while Air India cancelled services to and from several cities, including Jammu, Srinagar, Amritsar, and Leh, until midday Wednesday.
The international community has called for urgent de-escalation. A spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said he was “deeply concerned” by the Indian strikes and the growing risk of conflict. “He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries. The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the spokesperson said.
