India strikes Pakistan; 26 dead
ISLAMABAD—India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, killing at least 26 people including a child, in what Pakistan’s leader called an act of war.
India said it struck infrastructure used by militants linked to last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Pakistan said it had shot down several Indian fighter jets in retaliation as three planes fell onto villages in India-controlled Kashmir. At least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, Indian police and medics said.
Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since an attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, at a popular meadow in the disputed territory of Kashmir, in some cases killing men before their wives’ eyes.
India has blamed Pakistan for backing the attack, something Islamabad has denied.
‘Act of war’
Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries but claimed in its entirety by each, has been at the center of tensions for decades and they have fought two wars over it.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday’s 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 met Wednesday morning, and Pakistan summoned India’s charge d’affaires to lodge a protest.
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said it was one of the highest-intensity strikes from India on its rival in years and that Pakistan’s response would “surely pack a punch as well.”
“These are two strong militaries that, even with nuclear weapons as a deterrent, are not afraid to deploy sizable levels of conventional military force against each other,” Kugelman said. “The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly.”
Maximum restraint
Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement late Tuesday that secretary-general Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint because the world could not “afford a military confrontation” between India and Pakistan.
Several Indian states planned civil defense drills later Wednesday, according to India’s home ministry, to train civilians and security personnel to respond in case of any “hostile attacks,” the ministry said in a statement. Such drills in India are rare in noncrisis times.
Indian politicians from different political parties lauded the strikes. “Victory to Mother India,” India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, wrote on X.
Operation ‘Sindoor’
India’s main opposition Congress party called for national unity and said it was “extremely proud” of the country’s army.
“We applaud their resolute resolve and courage,” Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
India’s army said the operation was named “Sindoor,” a Hindi word for the bright red vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair, referring to the women whose husbands were killed in front of them.
