KARACHI — At least 31 people, including women and children, were killed and 57 others injured after India launched missile strikes and cross-border firing into Pakistani territory late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, Pakistani military officials confirmed.
The strikes, which India has called “Operation Sindoor,” targeted what New Delhi described as “terrorist infrastructure” at nine locations inside Pakistan.
Among the hardest-hit areas were civilian settlements in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Punjab province, where houses, mosques, and the Nausari dam structure of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project in Muzaffarabad district sustained heavy damage.
A mosque in Bahawalpur district was also damaged in the overnight assault.
Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told media that Pakistan’s military responded swiftly, shooting down five Indian fighter jets — three Rafales, one MiG-29, one Sukhoi — and a combat drone, with the drone’s debris falling inside Indian territory.
He emphasized that no Pakistani aircraft crossed into Indian airspace during the defensive response.
Chaudhry described the Indian assault as “unprovoked and uncalled-for aggression” against Pakistan’s territorial integrity and its innocent civilians.
He warned that “targeting hydro infrastructure is an unacceptable and dangerous escalation” and noted that scores of national and international flights were traversing Pakistani airspace at the time, putting thousands of civilian lives at risk.
Pakistan, Chaudhry said, struck several Indian military posts and a brigade headquarters in its retaliatory strikes, stressing that last night’s actions were limited to self-defense.
“Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this aggression at a time, place, and means of our own choosing,” he stated.
The Indian strikes came in the wake of a deadly April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, which left 26 dead.
India blamed Pakistan for the assault, citing alleged cross-border links, while Pakistan has vehemently denied involvement and called for an independent investigation.
“We are ready for an independent investigation into this matter as well as the Pahalgam incident,” Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told local broadcaster Geo News on Wednesday night.
“We appeal to the international community to investigate the so-called terrorist camps that India claims to have targeted.”
As regional tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors soar, international observers have called for restraint and de-escalation to avoid a wider conflict. India has not yet issued an official response to Pakistan’s claims of downed aircraft. / XINHUA