India fires missiles on Pakistan in what Islamabad calls ‘act of war’

A mosque of an Islamic seminary partially damaged by a suspected Indian missile attack, outskirts of Bahawalpur

India fired missiles at Pakistan early yesterday, in what it said was retaliation for last month’s massacre of Indian tourists. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war and said more than two dozen people, including children, were killed.

The strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Pakistan’s military said the missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province.

Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian fighter jets. Three planes fell onto villages in India-controlled territory, and there was a heavy exchange of fire between the sides. At least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, Indian police and medics said.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since an April attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir, in some cases killing men before their wives’ eyes.

India accuses Pakistan of being behind the attack, which was claimed by a militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance. India has said the group is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a disbanded Pakistani militant group.

Islamabad denies involvement.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.

In the wake of the massacre, the rivals have expelled each other’s diplomats and nationals, closed their borders and shuttered airspace. India has also suspended a critical water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.

Yesterday’s strikes were a significant escalation.

The escalation raises the risk of war

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the airstrikes and said his country would retaliate.

“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,” Sharif said.

It was not clear if Pakistan’s claim that it shot down fighter jets constituted its relatiation or if more might be coming.

South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said the strikes were some of the highest-intensity ones from India on its rival in years and that Pakistan’s response would “surely pack a punch as well.”

“These are two strong militaries that, even with nuclear weapons as a deterrent, are not afraid to deploy sizeable levels of conventional military force against each other,” Kugelman said. “The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint because the world could not “afford a military confrontation” between India and Pakistan, according to a statement from spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

China also called for calm. Beijing is the largest investor in Pakistan by far and has multiple border disputes with India, including one in the northeastern part of the Kashmir region.

Pakistan’s National Security Committee met yesterday morning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and postponed his upcoming official trip to Norway, Croatia and the Netherlands, scheduled to start next week.

Several Indian states planned civil defense drills later yesterday, according to India’s Home Ministry, to train civilians and security personnel to respond in case of any “hostile attacks.” Such drills are rare in non-crisis times.

Scenes of panic and destruction

The missile strikes hit six locations and killed at least 26 people, including women and children, said Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif.

Officials said another 38 people were injured in the strikes, and five more people were killed in Pakistan during exchanges of fire across the border later in the day.

In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad said he heard several explosions as blasts ripped through houses. He saw people running in panic and authorities immediately cut power to the area.

People ran into the streets or open areas. “We were afraid the next missile might hit our house,” said Mohammad Ashraf, another resident.

Indian jets damaged infrastructure at a dam in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to Sharif, the military spokesman, calling it a violation of international norms.

The strikes also hit close to at least two sites previously tied to militant groups that have since been banned, according to Pakistan.

One hit Subhan Mosque in Punjab’s Bahawalpur city, killing 13 people, according to Zohaib Ahmed, a doctor at a nearby hospital.

The mosque is near a seminary that was once the central office of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group outlawed in 2002. Officials say the group has had no operational presence at the site since the ban.

Another missile hit a mosque in Muridke in Punjab, damaging it. A sprawling building located nearby served as the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba until 2013, when Pakistan banned the militant group and arrested its founder.

India’s Defense Ministry called the strikes “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature.”

“No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint.”

Indian politicians from different political parties lauded the operation, which was named “Sindoor,” a Hindi word for the vermillion powder worn by married Hindu women on their foreheads and hair. It was a reference to the women whose husbands were killed in front of them in the Kashmir attack.

“Victory to Mother India,” India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, wrote on X.

Exchanges of fire fall on villages in Kashmir

Along the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there were heavy exchanges of fire.

Indian police and medics said seven civilians were killed and 30 wounded by Pakistani shelling in Poonch district near the highly militarized de facto border. Officials said several homes also were damaged in the shelling.

Shortly after India’s strikes, aircraft fell in three villages: two in India-controlled Kashmir, a third in India’s northern Punjab state.

Sharif, the Pakistani military spokesperson, said the country’s air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation for the strikes. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan’s claim.

Debris from one plane was scattered across Wuyan village on the outskirts of the region’s main city of Srinagar, including in a school and a mosque compound, according to police and residents. Firefighters struggled for hours to douse the resulting blazes.

“There was a huge fire in the sky. Then we heard several blasts also,” said Mohammed Yousuf Dar, a Wuyan resident.

Another aircraft fell in an open field in Bhardha Kalan village. Resident Sachin Kumar told The Associated Press he heard massive blasts and saw a huge ball of fire.

Kumar said he and several others rushed to the scene.

“We found the two pilots at some distance in injured condition. They were Indian pilots and and soldiers took them away,” he said.

A third aircraft crashed in a farm field in Punjab, a police officer told the AP, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The officer did not provide further details. MUNIR AHMED, ISLAMABAD, MDT/AP