India launched missile strikes on Pakistani territory early Wednesday in a significant escalation of tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, according to Pakistani officials.
India carried out missile strikes in three regions of Pakistan, including parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Bahawalpur in Punjab province, Pakistan’s military said late Tuesday.
According to Pakistani state television, which cited the Pakistani Army, the strikes targeted multiple locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Bahawalpur, located in southern Punjab.
Meanwhile, according to Foreign Ministry sources, Turkish FM Hakan Fidan held phone call with Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday (May 7) to discuss escalating tensions between Pakistan and India.
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The Indian government said its military had carried out “precision strikes at terrorist camps” in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Bahawalpur in southern Punjab province, targeting a total of nine sites.
The operation, dubbed “Operation Sindoor,” came just days after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that left 26 people dead.
“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,” the Indian government said in a statement.
Pakistan’s army confirmed that three locations were targeted — two in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and one in Bahawalpur. Military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry condemned the strikes as a “heinous provocation” and warned, “We will retaliate at the time of our choosing.”
Pakistani soldiers take security measures around the city as the people panic during blackout after India launches strikes on Pakistan, in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan on May 7, 2025. (AA Photo)
India had been widely expected to respond to last month’s attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a U.N.-designated terrorist organization. Indian police have issued wanted posters for three suspects — two Pakistanis and one Indian — allegedly linked to the group.
Islamabad has denied involvement in the assault and rejected India’s accusations. The two countries have exchanged nightly gunfire since April 24 along the Line of Control, the de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region, according to Indian military sources.
Wednesday’s missile strikes mark a dangerous escalation between the two longtime adversaries, who have fought multiple wars since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.
The U.S. and other international actors have urged both countries to de-escalate. “We continue to urge Pakistan and India to work towards a responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional stability in South Asia,” said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on Tuesday, hours before the strikes.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the attack in Kashmir, pledged to “identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer.” Modi also signaled a shift in India’s water-sharing policy, stating that water “used to go outside, now it will flow for India.” His remarks followed India’s suspension of its participation in the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty — a move Pakistan has warned could amount to an “act of war.”
In recent days, Pakistan’s military said it had conducted two missile tests, including one of a surface-to-surface missile with a 450-kilometer range, enough to reach New Delhi from the Pakistani border.
Security personnel cordon-off a street as local residents evacuate their homes near the site of a strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on May 7, 2025. (AFP Photo)
Meanwhile, India is conducting civil defense drills across the country Wednesday to prepare citizens for possible retaliatory attacks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected in New Delhi later Wednesday following meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Tehran has offered to mediate between the two sides and Araghchi becomes the first senior foreign official to visit both capitals since the April 22 attack.
The region of Indian-administered Kashmir has faced a violent insurgency since 1989, with rebels seeking independence or unification with Pakistan. New Delhi regularly accuses Islamabad of supporting the militants, charges that Pakistan denies.
May 07, 2025 01:44 AM GMT+03:00
