India has fired missiles into Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, marking a major escalation between the two nuclear-armed powers.
The attack came amid tensions over the April 22 terrorist attack near the Pahalgam area of Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. All but one of the victims were Indian tourists.
India blamed the massacre on a group called The Resistance Front (TRF) and accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, which Islamabad has strongly denied.
Early Wednesday morning, New Delhi time, India announced that its forces had struck nine locations in Pakistan and the Pakistan side of the disputed Kashmir region. Islamabad confirmed attacks on five locations: two in Pakistan’s Punjab province and three in Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan officials have said at least eight people were killed by the Indian strikes. According to AP, one official said a missile struck a Mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab and killed a child.
India claimed that it only struck “known terror camps” and that the attack had been “measured, responsible, and designed to be nonescalatory in nature.” But the missile strikes are the most significant Indian attacks on Pakistani territory in decades. In 2019, India launched airstrikes on an alleged training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, but that attack only targeted one location.
Islamabad is vowing it will respond and has claimed that its forces shot down five Indian fighter jets. “We were fully prepared, which is why India received an immediate and firm response,” said Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
Pakistani officials also said India has not provided any evidence for its allegations that Islamabad was involved in the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
In response to the news of the Indian attack, President Trump said the violence was a “shame” and that he hoped it would end quickly. “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,” he said. “I hope it ends very quickly.”
Indian officials have said they “briefed” Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the attack. Pakistani sources also reported that Rubio spoke with Pakistan’s national security advisor.
Any conflict between India and Pakistan always risks nuclear escalation since both sides have a nuclear arsenal. According to the Arms Control Association, Pakistan is believed to have about 170 nuclear warheads, and India has an estimated arsenal of 164 warheads.
