India launched missile attacks on Pakistan early Wednesday, claiming it was in response to last month’s killing of Indian tourists. Pakistan described the strikes as an act of war, reporting that over two dozen people, including children, lost their lives.
According to India’s Defense Ministry, the attacks hit at least nine locations allegedly used to plan terrorist activities against India. However, Pakistan’s military reported that the missiles struck six areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the eastern Punjab province.
Pakistan said it shot down several Indian fighter jets and emphasized its right to respond. Three of the jets reportedly crashed in areas under Indian control, while both countries exchanged intense gunfire, resulting in more casualties, according to officials on both sides.
Tensions have sharply increased between the two nuclear-armed nations following an April attack in India-controlled Kashmir, where gunmen killed 26 people—mostly Hindu tourists from India—some in front of their family members.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the airstrikes, vowing that Pakistan would respond strongly.
“Pakistan has every right to respond decisively to this act of war by India, and such a response is already underway,” Sharif stated.
It remained unclear whether Pakistan’s downing of fighter jets was its full response or if further action would follow.
Pakistan’s National Security Committee declared that the country would retaliate in self-defense “at a time, place, and manner of its choosing,” criticizing the Indian strikes as being based on “false claims about imaginary terrorist camps” and accusing them of causing civilian deaths.
