Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected in Delhi on Wednesday, two days after talks in Islamabad with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. Tehran has offered to mediate between the two nations, and Araghchi will be the first senior foreign diplomat to visit both countries since the 22 April attack sent relations plunging. If you’re just joining us, India has attacked nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday with at least three deaths reported. Pakistan has said it was mounting a response as the worst fighting in years erupted between the two countries. Armies of the nuclear-armed neighbours have also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir in at least three places, police and witnesses told the Reuters news agency. The offensive has occurred amid heightened tensions in the aftermath of an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month. Islamist assailants killed 26 men in the 22 April attack, the worst such violence targeted at civilians in India in nearly two decades. India said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” where attacks against it were planned and directed. Pakistan’s defence minister has told local media that all sites targeted by India were civilian and not militant camps. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has announced a meeting of the national security committee in Islamabad following the strikes. Pakistan’s Minister of defence has confirmed at least three civilians, including a child, were killed after India fired missiles at Pakistani territory, according to AFP. “They have targeted multiple locations, which all are civilian ... We have confirmed reports of three civilians killed that includes one child,” Khawaja Muhammad Asif told AFP. Reuters is reporting that senior Indian officials spoke to counterparts in the US, UK, Saudia Arabia, UAE and Russia to brief them on the steps taken by the military. A diplomatic official has told the news agency that this included a discussion between India’s national security advisor and US secretary of state Marco Rubio after the strikes took place. UN secretary general António Guterres is “very concerned” about the Indian military operations across the line of control and the international border, a spokesperson has said. The UN chief has called for maximum military restrain from both India and Pakistan. “The secretary-general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries,” the spokesperson said. “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.” Reports continue to come in of exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops across the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Indian police have reportedly claim that two women have been injured in shelling, according to the Reuters news agency. The same source reports “intense shelling” at three places across the Line of Control. Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, confirmed to the Guardian that missiles from Indian airspace had targeted at least seven sites in Pakistan, including at least two in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Asif said that Pakistan would give a massive retaliation to the Indian attacks before sunrise. Asif said: We can confirm at least seven civilian areas have been targeted by Indian missiles fired from Indian airspace. We are in the process of retaliating. You will see Pakistan’s response before the morning. Soon after the missile attacks inside Pakistan, the Indian armed forces confirmed it targeted nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir as part of “Operation Sindoor”. The Indian statement further said that it had targeted “terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”. The statement said the strike comes in the wake of the “barbaric” attack in which dozens of Indians were murdered in Pahalgam in Kashmir. Pakistan’s defense minister rejected the Indian claims that the Indians had targeted any terrorist infrastructures and he called it a “barbaric attack” on the civilians. Asif said: I invite international and national media to see these sites if they had any terrorists. All targeted sites were civilian sites. India lied about Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam incident. India is lying again that they have targeted terrorist infrastructures. Residents in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Kupwara district reported an exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Haji Sanaullah told the Guardian: We are hearing constant loud bangs and some shells have landed near civilian areas. “No one has been hurt so far,” they added. The chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, has declared a state of emergency across the province. All doctors and medical staff in Punjab’s hospitals have had their leave cancelled, and have been directed to report to duty immediately. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has announced a meeting of the national security committee in Islamabad following the Indian missile attack on Pakistan-administered territory. The meeting has been scheduled for 10am local time, Geo TV is reporting, citing Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar. We reported earlier that Pakistan’s security sources said it shot down two Indian jets in retaliation for the Indian strikes on Pakistan-administered territory. Samaa TV, citing Pakistan’s security sources, reports that a Rafale fighter jet belonging to the Indian air force was shot down near Ahmedpur East in Bahawalpur. Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, has said “civilians were killed, including women and children” in the Indian attack on the Pakistan-administered territory. Asif, speaking to Geo News, described the Indian attack as cowardly and covert and said it had targeted a civilian population. India’s claims that it targeted “terrorist camps” are false, he added. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said India has carried out “cowardly” attacks on five locations in Pakistan-administered territory. In a statement posted to X, Sharif said: 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 “entire nation” stands with Pakistan’s armed forces on “how to deal with the enemy”. Pakistan’s air force has shot down two Indian jets in retaliation for the strikes on Pakistani-administered territory, according to Pakistan security sources. A statement from Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV says Pakistani forces are responding “forcefully” to India’s “aggression”. All Pakistani air force aircraft are safe, it says, citing security sources, adding: Pakistan armed forces are giving a befitting reply to the enemy’s aggression. India has fired at least three missiles from its airspace to three cities including two cities of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least two civilians and injuring more than a dozen, as per the initial updates says the director general (DG) of Pakistan’s armed forces media wing. Pictures shared on social media showed a bloodied child lying dead and seriously injured in a pool of blood on stretchers. In a video widely shared on Twitter/X, a huge blast lights up the area with thunderous sound and smoke billowing. The missile attacks were reported around 1 am local time. DG of Pakistan’s armed forces Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that Pakistan will give a befitting response to the “cowardly” attacks on civilians by India. A few hours before the attacks, Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, said a clash with India “can happen anytime” as tensions between the nuclear-armed states increased between the two countries in the wake of the 22 April militant attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. India had blamed Pakistan for the terrorist attack. Islamabad had rejected New Delhi’s accusations and asked for a transparent investigation. US president Donald Trump was just asked about the Indian missile strikes into Pakistani-administered territory. “It’s a shame,” Trump told reporters. “We just heard about it.” He said “people knew something was going to happen based on the past” because both sides have been fighting “for many, many decades and centuries.” “I just hope it ends very quickly,” Trump added. An initial damage assessment of the Indian missile strikes shows at least three people were killed and 12 others injured in missile strikes by India in Pakistani-administered territory, a Pakistan military spokesperson has said. Kotli, Bahawalpur’s Ahmedpur East, Bagh, Muzaffarabad and Muridke were struck in the attack, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Geo News, Dawn newspaper reports. It cites him as saying: In Ahmedpur East, we have information about the martyrdom of a child and 12 people injured … Two civilians were martyred in Kotli. Dawn also quotes the Pakistan military spokesperson as saying: We know that a mosque was struck [in Ahmedpur]; ordinance landed on a house near it … Parents and a child are stuck and being rescued. India’s armed forces have said Pakistan has “again violate[d] the ceasefire agreement by firing artillery in Bhimber Gali in Poonch-Rajauri area”. The Indian army is “responding appropriately in a [calibrated] manner”, it says in a post on X. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said all domestic and international flights on the ground have been put on hold. All inbound and outbound flights are being diverted to Karachi, it said. Authorities have advised passengers not to come to the airport and to return home. At least one child was killed and two others wounded after India fired missiles across the border into Pakistan-administered territory early on Wednesday, Pakistani security officials said. Dawn newspaper cites a statement by Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV News: In the cowardly attack, one innocent child has been martyred so far, while one woman and one man are seriously injured. Here’s more from the Pakistan military spokesperson, who said India fired missiles across the border in three locations on Wednesday. ARY News, citing Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, says India fired missiles from its airspace which hit areas in Kotli, Muzaffarabad and Bahawalpur. The spokesperson said Pakistan’s air force responded quickly to the missile attack, activating its defense systems and preventing any Indian aircraft from penetrating Pakistani airspace. Dawn newspaper cites Chaudhry as saying: Let me say it unequivocally: Pakistan will respond to this at a time and place of its own choosing. This heinous provocation will not go unanswered. We reported earlier that the Indian armed forces said it targeted nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian army has also posted to X, writing “Justice is Served” and “Jai Hind!”, meaning “victory to India”. The post is accompanied by the hashtag #PahalgamTerrorAttack, referring to the deadly militant attack last month that killed 26 people. Multiple loud explosions were heard in the mountains around the city of Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, as well as in two other places in the region, Reuters reported, citing witnesses and a Pakistani TV channel. After the explosions, Muzaffarabad’s power was blacked out, the witnesses said. The Indian armed forces have confirmed it targeted nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir as part of “Operation Sindoor”. A statement from the Indian armed forces reads: A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. It said its actions have been “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature” and that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted, adding: India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution. The statement says the strike comes in the wake of the “barbaric” attack in which dozens of Indians were murdered in Pahalgam in Kashmir. A Pakistani military spokesperson has said India attacked Pakistan in three locations with missiles on Wednesday. Multiple loud explosions were heard in the Pakistani Kashmir area close to the mountains around the city of Muzaffarabad after midnight on Tuesday, Reuters reports, citing multiple witnesses. After the explosions, the city’s power was blacked out, according to the witnesses. It comes amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following an attack in Kashmir last month, which left 26 Indian nationals killed and 10 injured after suspected militants opened fire at a popular local tourist destination.
Author: Jonathan Yerushalmy (now); Léonie Chao-Fong (earlier)