A Pakistani military official told CNN that at least 26 civilians were killed in what India has dubbed “Operation Sindoor,” which New Delhi said targeted “terrorist infrastructure.” Pakistan has claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force jets. According to a senior Indian defense source, shelling by the Pakistani military killed at least 12 people on the Indian side of the the de facto border that divides Kashmir.
India fired missiles at Pakistan early Wednesday, in what it said was retaliation for last month’s massacre of Indian tourists. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war and claimed it downed several Indian fighter jets. The missiles killed more than two dozen people, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country’s Punjab province, Pakistan’s military said. The strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Pakistan said it reserved the right to respond, raising the specter that the back-and-forth could spiral into all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals. Already, it’s their worst confrontation since 2019, when they came close to war. Following the strikes, there was a heavy exchange of fire that officials in each country said left more people dead.
India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier on Wednesday after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival, in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades. At least 38 deaths were reported, with Islamabad saying 26 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling. The fighting came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir.
