In a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, India launched a series of coordinated missile strikes on nine strategic locations across Pakistan early Tuesday morning, under a military campaign dubbed Operation Sindoor.
Multiple loud explosions were heard in several places in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir as India said it had attacked “terrorist infrastructure” in nine sites and Pakistan vowed to respond to the attacks. Sources say Kotli, Muzaffarabad, Ahmedpur Sharqia Bagh and Muridke were hit by missiles.
“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,” it said.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s military told broadcaster ARY that India had attacked Pakistan with missiles in three places and that Pakistan would respond.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry early on Wednesday morning said three Pakistanis were martyred and 12 were injured in “cowardly” missile strikes by India in Kotli, Bahawalpur, Muridke, Bagh and Muzaffarabad in a “cowardly attack” after midnight for which retaliation by the military was already under way.
“In Ahmedpur East, we have information about the martyrdom of a child and 12 people injured,” DG Chaudhry said. “Two civilians were martyred in Kotli,” he further said.
“We know that a mosque was struck [in Ahmedpur]; ordinance landed on a house near it,” he added. “Parents and a child are stuck and being rescued.”
The DG ISPR said that a mosque in Kotli was also attacked. “These attacks on mosques indicate the RSS Hindutva ideology, as they have targeted mosques,” he said.
In Muzaffarabad, a missile landed on the road. It did not cause any damage, but a further assessment is being carried out, he said.
“I want to tell you that Pakistan’s retaliation is underway on the ground and in the air.”
The strikes come as tensions have escalated intensely between the two countries in the wake of a militant attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam and a Jaffar Express hijacking in Balochistan Pakistan.
