Powerful explosions rocked the Pakistani part of Kashmir near the city of Muzafarabad after midnight on Tuesday (local time). Electricity in the area has been cut off, according to eyewitnesses.
HDN Newsroom
The international community is anxiously watching the escalating tension between India and Pakistan, with the focus on the disputed Kashmir as two weeks after the deadly terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, India responds with a missile attack on Pakistani territory.
India launched missile strikes on areas of Pakistani territory early Wednesday morning, killing at least eight people, Pakistan said. New Delhi says it targeted infrastructure used by militants to organize terrorist attacks.
According to Pakistan, Indian missiles hit five different sites, including areas in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and the eastern province of Punjab. One of the strikes hit a mosque in the city of Bahavalpur, killing a child and injuring two adults.
Three Indian civilians were killed on the night of May 6-7 by artillery fire fired by the Pakistani army along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border with India in the disputed Kashmir region, the Indian army said on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Armed Forces told Reuters that five Indian Air Force fighter jets were shot down amid clashes between the two states.
According to the spokesman, these were 3 Rafale (French-made), Sukhoi Su-30 and Mikoyan MiG-29 (Russian/Soviet-designed) aircraft, which were shot down while operating in Indian airspace.
He did not specify how they were hit, while he assured that on the contrary there was no shot down of a Pakistani fighter.
The attack marks a dangerous escalation of tension between the two nuclear-armed countries, in the wake of last month's deadly attack on the Indian side of Kashmir, which India attributed to Pakistani-backed militants – something Islamabad flatly denies.
How the tension escalated
Two weeks after militants attacked tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing 25 Indians and a Nepali national, India launched a missile strike on Pakistani territory. As the country's defense ministry said, the strikes were part of their "commitment" to "hold accountable" those responsible for the deadly attack on April 22.
Pakistan's response was immediate, with the country's army spokesman telling Reuters that Islamabad had shot down five Indian army aircraft "within Indian airspace".
However, Pakistan strongly denies any involvement in last month's attack, calling the strikes "unprovoked", with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying the "heinous attack will not go unpunished".
Where India hit
Delhi announced in the early hours of Wednesday morning that nine different locations were targeted, both in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Pakistan.
They claim these sites were "terrorist infrastructure" — places where attacks were "planned and directed."
They stressed that they had not hit any Pakistani military installations, saying that "its actions were focused, measured and non-escalating in nature."
According to Pakistan, three different areas were hit: Muzafarabad and Kotli in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Bahavalpur in Pakistani province of Punjab.
The areas hit by India in Pakistan (Al Jazeera)Pakistan's defense minister said the strikes hit civilian areas, adding that India's claim that it is "targeting terrorist camps" is false.
Dozens of civilians lost their lives in the hostilities.
BREAKING: The first clear footage of India bombing Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/OGglvTsJ3f
— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 6, 2025
What triggered India's attack
The strikes come after weeks of rising tension between neighbors in the wake of the shooting in the picturesque resort of Pahalgam.
In the April 22 attack by a group of militants, 26 people were killed, with survivors saying the militants were targeting Hindus.
It was the worst attack on civilians in the region in two decades and sparked widespread outrage in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country would hunt the suspects "to the edge of the world" and that those who planned and carried out the attack "will be punished".
However, India has not named any group for the Pahalgam attack and it remains unclear who did so.
Indian police claim two of the attackers were Pakistani nationals, with Delhi accusing Pakistan of supporting militants - a charge Islamabad denies.
In the two weeks that followed, tensions gradually increased, with diplomats being expelled, visas suspended and border crossings closed.
And many expected a strike, as it did in 2019, when India conducted airstrikes on Balakot after a suicide attack that killed 40 Indian soldiers in Pulvama.
Why India and Pakistan fight over Kashmir
Kashmir is claimed entirely by India and Pakistan, but is only partially administered by each country.
The region was partitioned after its independence from Britain in 1947 and there have been two wars over its occupation.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, there has been an armed insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, with militants targeting both security forces and civilians.
This was the first major attack on civilians since India revoked Article 370, which gave Kashmir semi-autonomous status in 2019.
Kashmir is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent and covers 222,200 square kilometers. About 4 million people live in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and 13 million in Jammu and Kashmir administered by India.
The population is overwhelmingly Muslim. Pakistan controls the northern and western parts, namely Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltista, while India controls the southern and southeastern parts, including the Kashmir Valley and its largest city, Srinagar, as well as Jammu and Ladakh.
The end of British colonialism in August 1947 led to the creation of Pakistan with a Muslim majority, and India with a Hindu majority.
At that time, princely states such as Jammu and Kashmir were allowed to join any country. With almost 75 percent Muslim population, many in Pakistan believed that the region would be part of them.
The Maharaja of Kashmir initially sought independence from both countries, but later chose to join India after Pakistan's invasion, triggering the first war from 1947 to 1948.
Subsequently, a ceasefire line was established, dividing Kashmir in two.
Despite this, both countries continue to claim the entire region, while India also claims the Chinese-administered Aksai Qin on the eastern side.
In recent days, tensions have risen sharply in Kashmir between the Indian and Pakistani armies, with the two sides frequently exchanging gunfire, but no deaths have been reported.
The two countries are on the verge of war on the occasion of the deadly terrorist attack that took place in Indian Kashmir a few weeks ago. India accuses Pakistan of being behind the attack, with Islamabad rejecting the accusations.
The Indian government says its forces launched "Operation Siddur", "hitting terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, "from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed".
In a statement, the Indian government said that "nine locations have been targeted".
"Our actions were targeted, measured and without escalation. No Pakistani military installations have been targeted. India has shown considerable restraint in the choice of targets and in the method of execution."
#BREAKING: Pakistan Army confirms attack by India. India has launched an attack on Pakistan. Missiles fired at Kotli, Muzaffarabad, and Bahawalpur — confirmed by DG ISPR to Pakistani journalists. India goes after terror state Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/Tog4sHGjdM
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 6, 2025
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today that his country would "cut off the water" from the rivers that flow from Indian soil but pass through and supply water to Pakistan, in retaliation for the deadly attack in Indian Kashmir at the end of April.
"The water belonging to India has been flowing abroad until now. From now on, we will stop it in order to serve India's interests and use it for our country," Modi said in his speech.
What Pakistani TV says and what the international media broadcast
India has launched missile strikes at three locations, Pakistani state television reports.
As reported by international media, Indian forces attacked three locations in Pakistan with missiles.
There are also reports of heavy shelling and loud explosions in border areas of the Pakistani-administered state of Kashmir, according to the Reuters news agency.
India and Pakistan have significantly strengthened their military and nuclear capabilities in recent decades.
India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974 and repeated it in 1998. Pakistan responded with tests of its own a few weeks later.
Since then, both sides have been equipped with hundreds of nuclear warheads, advanced missile launch systems, next-generation fighter jets and modern weapons systems – making any military conflict extremely dangerous for the entire region.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he hoped hostilities between India and Pakistan "will end very quickly," while Pakistan fired artillery fire on Indian soil in retaliation for a series of missile strikes by Indian aircraft.
"It's a shame, I heard about it," the US president told the Oval Office. "You know, they've been fighting for decades and centuries over there, if you think about it," he continued, adding, "I just hope this will end very quickly."
Washington had already called on New Delhi and Islamabad to work to find a "responsible solution" to their differences. New Delhi threatened to "cut off the water" that irrigates Pakistani soil in retaliation for the deadly attack on Indian Kashmir.
"We continue to urge Pakistan and India to work to find a responsible solution that will preserve peace in the long term" and guarantee "regional stability in South Asia," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told the press.
U.S. diplomatic spokeswoman Bruce also assured that Washington is "in contact with the governments of the two countries at many levels."
