India on Wednesday carried out airstrikes deep inside Pakistani territory and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, targeting what it described as "terrorist infrastructure" in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
The operation, dubbed Operation Sindoor by Indian authorities, marks the deepest Indian incursion into Pakistani territory since the 1971 war between the neighbours.
Pakistan said eight people, including children, were killed in the strikes, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned as “an act of war.” Islamabad also claimed its forces shot down five Indian Air Force jets and an unmanned aerial vehicle during the operation.
Meanwhile, a loud explosion was reported in Srinagar, the largest city in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to eyewitness accounts cited by CNN.
The military action follows the killing of 26 civilians last month in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam district—an attack New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad has denied any involvement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under intense domestic pressure to respond, vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. The Hindu nationalist leader, who secured a rare third term in office last year, promised to pursue those responsible “to the ends of the earth.”
The massacre in Pahalgam—one of the deadliest attacks on Indian civilians in recent years—further strained already fraught relations between the two countries, both of which claim Kashmir in full but control parts of it. The disputed region has been the flashpoint of three wars since partition in 1947.
Indian media outlets responded to the killings with a wave of nationalist sentiment, calling for retaliation. Headlines such as “We want revenge” and “Bharat is battle-ready” dominated television coverage in the days following the attack.
Analysts say New Delhi's response was widely anticipated. “Modi and his government believe it is imperative to respond to Pahalgam,” said Derek J. Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation. “Public support for retaliation is likely to be high, short of a nuclear response, as many in India believe Pakistan must be deterred.”
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