India fired missiles across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory in at least three locations early Wednesday, and Pakistani officials say at least 19 people were killed. India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants. India also claims there are casualties from Pakistani fire in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors over last month’s militant attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled portion. India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.
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India has moved to punish Pakistan after accusing it of backing the attack in Pahalgam, which Islamabad denies. The region has been split between India and Pakistan since 1949 and is claimed by both in its entirety.
Here's the latest:
Fighting disrupts flights between Taiwan and Europe
Ten passenger airline flights between Taiwan and Europe have been affected by the closure of Pakistan air space, airport authorities said Wednesday.
An EVA Air flight from Vienna to Taipei returned to Vienna, and five China Airlines flights that had departed for Europe stopped in Bangkok, a statement from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport said.
China Airlines also canceled a flight that had been scheduled to depart Wednesday morning for London.
Three other EVA Air flights between Europe and Taiwan were rerouted but were continuing to their destinations, the statement said.
China calls on Indian and Pakistan to show restraint
Beijing called on restraint from both sides Wednesday morning following India’s strike into Pakistan.
“China expresses regret over India’s military actions this morning and is concerned about the current developments. China opposes all forms of terrorism,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement. “We call on both India and Pakistan to prioritize peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the situation.”
Beijing is the largest investor in Pakistan by far, with a $65 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project that spans across the country. China meanwhile also has multiple border claims disputed with India, with one of those claims in the northeastern part of the Kashmir region
Pakistani official says Indian missile strike on Bahawalpur mosque killed 13, including women and children.
Zohaib Ahmed, a doctor at a hospital, said the death toll from the Indian missile strike on the Subhan Mosque in Bahawalpur has jumped to 13, bringing the overall death toll from the Indian strikes across the country to 19.
Six people were killed in the Indian strikes and shelling in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to security officials. India said it struck infrastructure used by militants linked to last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. At least three civilians were also killed in Indian-controlled Kashmir by Pakistani shelling, the Indian army said in a statement.
Missiles fired from India struck multiple locations across Pakistan
Missiles fired from India struck multiple locations across Pakistan, damaging at least four mosques and a medical clinic, authorities said. One of the missiles hit a mosque in Muridke, a town near the eastern city of Lahore, damaging its structure.
A sprawling building located near the mosque in Muridkey had previously served as the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LeT, until 2013, when Pakistan banned the group and took control of the seminaries, schools, and dispensaries run by a charity linked to LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.
Saeed is currently serving multiple prison sentences on terror financing charges.
In Bahawalpur, another missile struck a mosque adjacent to a religious seminary that once served as the central office of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group outlawed by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2002.
Officials say the group has had no operational presence at the site since the ban.
Muhammad Sabir, a resident who lives near the damaged Subhan Mosque in Bahawalpur, described the chaos that followed the strike.
“I heard three or four loud explosions in a row,” he said. He said he grabbed his family, and “we ran to the nearby fields and lay down.” Police and ambulances arrived shortly afterward, he added.
Schools closed in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have closed all schools, colleges and educational institutions in at least seven border areas of the region, officials said. Schools will also remain closed around Srinagar airport, they said.
Second aircraft reported to have crashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Another aircraft has reportedly crashed in an open field in a village close to the Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Residents said the aircraft fell shortly after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan on early Wednesday.
Sachin Kumar, a local villager, told the Associated Press that he heard massive blasts followed by a huge ball of fire that lit his village, Bhardha Kalan near southern Akhnoor town.
Kumar said he and some villagers rushed to the scene and found two pilots in injured condition. Both were later taken away by the Indian army.
Aircraft crashes on a school building in the outskirts of main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir
An unknown aircraft has crashed on a school building in the outskirts of the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Police and residents said the aircraft fell in the early hours Wednesday, shortly after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan.
“There was a huge fire in the sky. Then we heard several blasts also,” said Mohammed Yousuf Dar, a local resident in southern Wuyan village in Pampore area, where the incident occurred.
Firefighters struggled for hours to extinguish the fires. Police and military officials sealed off the area immediately after the incident.
India says Pakistani army shelling kills 3
India’s army says three civilians were killed in Pakistani shelling into Indian-controlled Kashmir.
It says the Pakistani army “resorted to arbitrary firing” across the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries.
Pakistan tells UN it reserves right to respond
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Islamabad has informed the U.N. Security Council about the Indian attacks and the threat it poses to international peace and security.
The ministry says in a statement that the Security Council was told that “Pakistan reserves the right to respond appropriately to this aggression at a time and place of its choosing.”
Officials say India used precision strike weapons systems
Indian security officials say that army, navy and air force personnel used precision strike weapon systems, including drones, to carry out the strikes.
The officials said that intelligence agencies provided coordinates for the strikes and that all operations were executed from Indian territory.
The officials said the strikes targeted the headquarters of militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke.
South Asia analyst says Pakistan's response will ‘pack a punch’
Geopolitical analyst Michael Kugelman said that “these are some of the most high-intensity Indian strikes in Pakistan in years, and Pakistan’s response will 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. The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly,” Kugelman said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Rubio says he hopes the latest conflict ends quickly
The U.S. secretary of state says in a post on X that “I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely.”
Rubio continued: “I echo @POTUS’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.”
Trump said earlier Tuesday that he hopes the fighting “ends very quickly” and called it “a shame.”
Indian airlines cancel some flights
SpiceJet says it cancelled flights to Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir’s main city, and to the cities of Dharamshala, Leh, Jammu and Amritsar in northern India after their airports were “closed until further notice.”
There was no immediate comment from India’s civil aviation ministry.
Two other Indian airlines also said they were cancelling their flights to the airports till possibly later Wednesday.
Indian official says Prime Minister Modi monitored the operation
An Indian official says Prime Minister Narendra Modi monitored the operation against Pakistan through the night.
The government official says there were nine targets that were hit “successfully.”
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to disclose details.
Pakistani official says eight killed and dozens injured
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif, Pakistan’s military spokesperson, says India attacked six locations, killing eight people and injuring 38 others.
He said in televised remarks that five civilians were killed in Ahmedpur East in Punjab province and that three people were killed at other locations.
Sharig says that “retaliatory action is being taken in response to the enemy’s attacks.”
Emergency declared in hospitals in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir
Waqar Noor, the region’s interior minister, says authorities have declared an emergency in local hospitals.
In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad says he heard several explosions and that some people were wounded in the attack.
He says people were running in panic and that authorities immediately cut the power, leading to a blackout.
Indian police say a woman is killed and a girl is injured during border fight
Police say a woman was killed and a girl was wounded in Indian-controlled Kashmir when Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged mortar and gunfire at several places along the highly militarized frontier.
A local doctor says the woman was killed in the Mankote area of the Poonch district.
The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
India says official spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
India’s embassy in Washington says that Ajit Doval, the country’s national security adviser, has spoken U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly after the Indian strikes.
The Embassy says in a statement that India’s actions “were measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani civilian, economic or military targets have been hit. Only known terror camps were targeted.”
Pakistan says a child was killed and two people injured in attack
A Pakistani official says one missile struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed and a woman and man were injured.
The official and others say Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes but didn’t provide any details.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Pakistan condemns what it calls Indian Air Force strikes on civilian areas
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned what it calls a “blatant and unprovoked act of aggression” on civilian areas by the Indian Air Force.
It says Indian aircraft lunched strikes from Indian airspace, targeting civilian areas in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Punjab province.
The ministry says in a statement that the attack reportedly resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, and posed a significant threat to commercial air traffic.UN secretary-general calls for restraint
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says in a statement that Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling for restraint from both countries.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the statement read.
Pakistan’s defense minister condemns what he calls a ‘cowardly act’
Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has strongly condemned what he calls a “cowardly act by India.”
He told Pakistan’s Geo news channel that India had deliberately targeted civilian populations and a mosque.
“This was a cowardly move by India,” Asif said. “We will also respond.”
Indian army says Pakistan fired artillery along the border
The Indian army says in a statement that Pakistan fired artillery along what’s known as the de facto border, or the Line of Control, in Bhimber Gali in India-controlled Kashmir.
It said India’s armed forces were “responding appropriately in a calibrated manner.”
Pakistan’s Sharif convenes national security committee
Pakistan’s prime minister has convened a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday morning, according to a government announcement.
Pakistan's prime minister calls Indian action an ‘act of war’
In a statement, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that “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 the entire nation stands with the Pakistan Armed Forces, and the morale and spirit of the Pakistani people are high.
“The Pakistani nation and the Pakistan Armed Forces know very well how to deal with the enemy,” he said. “We will never let the enemy succeed in its nefarious objectives.”
Trump says he hopes fighting ‘ends very quickly’
President Donald Trump was asked about the airstrikes India launched in Pakistani-controlled territory and said he’d just heard about it an said, “It’s a shame.”
“I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. They’ve been fighting for many, many decades. And centuries, actually, if you really think about it,” Trump said.
Fire along the frontier
India and Pakistan accused each other of initiating the attacks. The incidents could not be independently verified. In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.
Strikes follow a militant attack on Kashmir last month
The strikes come amid soaring tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors over last month’s militant attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.
India fires missiles across the frontier with Pakistan, killing at least 1 child, officials say
India fired missiles across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory in at least three locations early Wednesday, killing at a child and wounding two other people, Pakistani security officials said. India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants.
The missiles early Wednesday struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to three Pakistani security officials. One of them struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed, and a woman and man were injured, one official said.
The officials said Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes, without providing any details. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record.
India says at least nine sites were targeted
India’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that at least nine sites were targeted “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.”
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.”