Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to “avenge the blood of our innocent martyrs” following Indian air and artillery strikes that Islamabad says killed at least 31 people and injured dozens more in Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The Pakistani government condemned the attacks as a "blatant act of war", claiming civilian infrastructure—including mosques—was targeted.

Heavy artillery exchanges were reported along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing Indian- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Tensions have soared in the region following a deadly assault in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam on 22 April, in which Indian tourists were killed. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan-based militants for the attack, a claim Islamabad strongly denies.

India’s military said it launched “Operation Sindoor” in retaliation, targeting what it described as terrorist infrastructure across the border. It also reported that at least 13 civilians were killed on its side of the LoC due to Pakistani shelling.

Both sides have accused each other of escalating hostilities, as fears grow of a broader confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Efforts by international actors to de-escalate the crisis are ongoing, though no breakthrough has been reported.

Source: Al Jazeera 

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