Early on Wednesday, India announced it had launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan Kashmir. The Indian government said that in total, nine sites were struck. The strikes come amid a significant escalation of tensions between the two neighbors. Pakistan vowed to launch retaliatory strikes on India.
“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. “Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.”
In response, a Pakistani military spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told Geo TV, “This heinous provocation will not go unanswered.”
Witnesses reported that explosions plunged Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, into darkness after a widespread power outage. The exact cause of the blasts remains unclear. However, according to a preliminary damage assessment, civilians and Pakistanis were impacted by the strikes.
India’s Ministry of Defense said the actions follow the terrorist attack in Pahalgam last month, where 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national were killed. The ministry pointed to the massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir as the catalyst for the current response.
India has accused Pakistan of being behind a deadly attack that left 26 men dead and pledged to retaliate. In response, Pakistan denied any involvement and claimed it had intelligence warning of an impending strike from India. The strikes mark the most significant military escalation between India and Pakistan since 2019, when Indian fighter jets carried out precision airstrikes on terrorist camps deep inside Pakistani territory. That action came in response to a deadly suicide bombing—believed to be backed by Islamabad—that killed over 40 Indian paramilitary troops.
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