Pakistan is calling airstrikes launched by India an “act of war” Wednesday, with its military claiming it shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation.
The strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Pakistan’s military said the missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, killing at least 26 people, including women and children.
“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,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared.
Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since an April attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, in the India-controlled portion of Kashmir. India accuses its neighbor of being behind that attack, which was claimed by a militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance that India says is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a disbanded Pakistani militant group.
INDIA LAUNCHES STRIKES ON TERRORIST CAMPS IN PAKISTAN
Indian military officials said Wednesday that their forces targeted “terrorist camps” that served as recruitment centers and weapon storage facilities for Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, another Islamist militant group, according to Reuters.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif, Pakistan’s military spokesperson, said the country’s air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation.
Three planes fell onto villages in India-controlled territory, and there was a heavy exchange of fire between the sides, the Associated Press reported. At least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, Indian police and medics said.
Debris from one plane was scattered across Wuyan village on the outskirts of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, including in a school and a mosque compound, police and residents said.
“There was a huge fire in the sky. Then we heard several blasts also,” Wuyan resident Mohammed Yousuf told the AP.
Another aircraft fell in an open field in Bhardha Kalan village. Resident Sachin Kumar told the AP he heard massive blasts and saw a huge ball of fire.
“We found the two pilots at some distance in injured condition. They were Indian pilots and soldiers took them away,” he added.
India’s military said the strikes Wednesday were part of “Operation Sindoor.”
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” India’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. “No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted.”
Pakistan’s National Security Committee also met Wednesday morning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and postponed his upcoming official trip to Norway, Croatia and the Netherlands, scheduled to start next week.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
