ISLAMABAD (AP) — 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. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the armed forces for shooting down five Indian jets, which he said were hit after they fired their missiles but while still in Indian airspace.
There was no immediate comment from India, but three planes fell onto villages in India-controlled territory, according to police and residents.
Tensions have soared between the neighbors since an April attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir. Some survivors told Indian media that gunmen in some cases singled out Hindu men and shot them at close range.
India accuses Pakistan of being behind the attack, which was claimed by a militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance. India has said the group is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a disbanded Pakistani militant group that New Delhi long accused of being backed by Pakistan.
Islamabad denies involvement.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
In the wake of the massacre, the rivals have expelled each other’s diplomats and nationals, closed their borders and shuttered airspace. India has also suspended a critical water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.
The escalation raises the risk of war
Pakistan’s prime minister condemned the airstrikes and said his country would retaliate.
“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 country’s National Security Committee said Pakistan reserves the right to respond “in self-defense, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing.”
The statement said the strikes were carried out “on the false pretext of the presence of imaginary terrorist camps” and said they killed civilians.
South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said the strikes were some of the highest-intensity ones from India on its rival in years and that Pakistan’s response would “surely pack a punch as well.”
