In an escalation that has brought the two countries closer to a wider conflict, India initiated military assaults on Pakistan on Wednesday, and Pakistan said it shot down five Indian Air Force jets.
With Islamabad promising to react against India’s strikes and the international community urging patience, the escalation places India and Pakistan, two neighbors with a long history of confrontation, in perilous ground.
According to New Delhi, the strikes are a reaction to the slaughter of 26 people, primarily Indian tourists, who were killed in April when gunmen invaded a picturesque mountain location in the disputed border region of Kashmir, which is administered by India. Islamabad disputes India’s accusation that Pakistan was responsible for the strike.
-How did the strikes in India turn out? –
Early on Wednesday morning local time (Tuesday evening ET), India began “Operation Sindoor” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Nine targets were targeted, according to Indian officials, but no military, commercial, or civilian Pakistani sites were hit. According to them, the 25-minute operation focused on “terrorist infrastructure” that belonged to two militant organizations, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
It seems that the term “Sindoor” alludes to the crimson vermilion powder that many Hindu women apply to their foreheads upon marriage. Several Indian women were left widowed by the April tourist massacre, which specifically targeted men as victims.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is presenting a different image of the raids, claiming that mosques were struck and civilians were killed. CNN has not yet confirmed such allegations.
According to a Pakistani military spokesperson, 24 attacks were made at six different locations. According to Pakistan’s military, some of those strikes occurred in the heavily populated province of Punjab and were the deepest India has ever struck inside Pakistan since their four-war conflict in 1971.
-What was Pakistan’s reaction? –
According to Pakistani security sources, during India’s raid, they shot down one drone and five Indian Air Force jets.
They did not say exactly where, or how, the jets were downed – but said three Rafale jets were among those planes. India’s Rafale fighter jets are prized military assets that it bought from France only a few years ago.
India has not confirmed any planes were lost. CNN has not been able to verify the claim and has reached out to India’s government and military for comment.
An eyewitness and local government official said an unidentified aircraft crashed in the village of Wuyan in Indian-administered Kashmir. Photos published by the AFP news agency showed aircraft wreckage lying in a field next to a red-brick building.
It was not immediately clear from the photos who the aircraft belonged to.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday the country “has every right” to respond, calling India’s actions an “act of war.”
-How many casualties are there?-
At least 26 civilians were killed and 46 injured by India’s strikes, a Pakistan military spokesperson said, according to the news agency Reuters.
According to Pakistani military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, among those slain were toddlers and teenagers, the youngest of whom was three years old.
According to a top Indian defense official who spoke to CNN, Pakistani troops shelled Indian-administered Kashmir, killing eight civilians.
CNN/Reuters
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