Pakistan has said it has been targeted by India in a missile attack, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalate.
Indian security officials revealed their armed forces launched attacks against nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday evening.
The country’s defence ministry said it hit "terrorist infrastructure… from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed", in what it called Operation Sindoor.
A statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government said: "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.”
Pakistani officials said Islamabad had launched retaliatory strikes after India’s attacks, without providing any details.
State-run Pakistan Television, quoting security officials, said Pakistan's air force shot down two Indian jets but provided no additional details. This was yet to be confirmed by India.
#PahalgamTerrorAttack
— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 6, 2025
Justice is Served.
Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/Aruatj6OfA
India’s strikes were ordered after last month's deadly attack on Indian tourists in India-administered Kashmir, which killed at least 25 people, for which India blames Pakistan.
“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” India's Defence Ministry said.
The Indian army also posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Justice is Served” and “Jai Hind!”, which means “victory to India”.
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari has denied any connection to the atrocity, which was claimed by the Kashmir Resistance, a group actively engaged in the insurgency and designated as a terrorist organisation in India.
Reuters quoted witnesses as saying that power was blacked out in the Kashmiri city of Muzaffarabad after explosions were heard on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, three Pakistani security chiefs said missiles hit the eastern Punjab province, including a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur.
One of them struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed and a woman and a man were injured, an official said.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif called the Indian missile attacks an "act of war" and vowed his country "has every right to give a full and strong response".
He said the "deceitful enemy has carried out cowardly attacks at five locations in Pakistan" and that 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," he said.
He added that his country and its forces "know very well how to deal with the enemy. We will never let the enemy succeed in its nefarious objectives."
Mr Sharif called a meeting of the National Security Committee for Wednesday morning, according to a government announcement.
Islamabad said its response to Delhi's attacks was under way, without giving details.
A spokesman said: "This is a shameful and cowardly attack that was carried out from within India's airspace.”
Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border" and called for maximum military restraint from both countries.
"The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan," the statement read.
US President Donald Trump said he hoped the tensions ended "very quickly."
"It's a shame, we just heard about it," Trump said at the White House. "I guess people knew something was going to happen based on the past. They've been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it".
