Islamabad, Pakistan – Elements of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir had been rocked by multiple missile attacks by India early on Wednesday morning, during which a minimum of eight folks, together with a three-year-old little one, died.
Pakistan’s army stated Indian missiles struck six cities. That included 4 totally different locations in Punjab province — the primary time that India has hit Pakistan’s most populous state for the reason that 1971 warfare between the neighbours. The remaining two locations focused had been Muzaffarabad and Kotli, each in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
India claimed that its “Operation Sindoor” focused 9 websites with “terrorist infrastructure”.
Pakistan scrambled its jets in response and claimed it had introduced down 5 Indian planes – an assertion to which India has not but responded.
The Indian assault got here 15 days after the lethal assault on vacationers within the picturesque Pahalgam city in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, for which India blamed armed teams which it claimed had been backed by Pakistan. Islamabad denied any function in that assault.
Now, the nuclear-armed neighbours stand on the precipice of a full-blown army battle.
Here’s what we learn about India’s assault, Pakistan’s response, and the background of this battle to date.
The place did India hit Pakistan?
Pakistani army spokesperson Lieutenant Normal Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in an early morning information convention, stated Indian missiles focused 4 places in Punjab and two in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The assault passed off at about 1am on Wednesday (20:00 GMT, Tuesday).
The largest assault was in Ahmedpur Sharqia, close to Bahawalpur metropolis in Punjab. In response to Chaudhry, a mosque compound was hit and 5 folks had been killed, together with a three-year-old lady.
Different assaults passed off in Muridke metropolis, a village close to the town of Sialkot, and Shakar Garh, all in Punjab.
Two places in Pakistan-administered Kashmir – Muzaffarabad and Kotli – had been additionally hit, and two mosques had been destroyed, in response to Pakistani authorities. A 16-year-old lady and an 18-year-old boy had been amongst these killed within the assaults, they stated.
Chaudhry stated a minimum of eight Pakistanis had been killed in all and 35 had been injured within the assault.
The Punjab province declared a state of emergency, with hospitals and safety forces on excessive alert, and faculties shut on Wednesday.
How did Pakistan reply?
Quickly after the Indian assaults, Pakistan’s management, each political and army, stated the nation had engaged its defences and its fighter jets had been “airborne”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a submit on the social media platform X, stated a reply was “being given” to India.
In a single day, a number of claims had been made by the Pakistanis, together with capturing down as much as 5 Indian jets, together with three Rafales, the trendy fighter planes which India procured from France in recent times.
Moreover Chaudhry, Info Minister Attaullah Tarar, in addition to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, additionally claimed on worldwide information shops that Pakistan had downed a number of Indian jets.
Nonetheless, Pakistan’s army additionally stated India had fired all of its missiles from Indian airspace. In different phrases, if Pakistan shot down Indian planes, it fired at them whereas they had been in Indian airspace.
Indian authorities have but to touch upon the claims or whether or not all Indian air power planes that participated within the strikes returned securely to their respective bases.
Why did India strike Pakistan?
The newest spherical of battle between the 2 nuclear-armed nations got here following the assault in Baisaran valley in the Pahalgam region of Indian-administered Kashmir. Gunmen killed 26 males – 25 vacationers and an area pony rider – after segregating them from girls.
India has for years blamed Pakistan for supporting, arming and coaching the armed teams, which it accuses of fomenting hassle within the valley. Pakistan has insisted that it gives solely ethical and diplomatic help to Kashmir’s secessionist motion.
Following the assault final month, India blamed an obscure group, The Resistance Entrance (TRF), and claimed that it was a Pakistan-backed group with a haven there. Pakistan, whereas issuing a condemnation, vehemently denied its involvement and demanded a “clear, credible, neutral” investigation into the incident.
India, which additionally focused Pakistan in 2019 and 2016 following assaults on its troops, stated it could retaliate, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the nation would pursue the Kashmir attackers to “the ends of the earth”.
Nonetheless, greater than two weeks later, Indian troopers are nonetheless combing the forests of Kashmir, trying to find the attackers — even because it has now hit targets throughout the border.
Why is Kashmir essential to India and Pakistan?
This isn’t the primary time South Asia’s two largest international locations – which have a mixed inhabitants of greater than 1.6 billion, about one-fifth of the world’s inhabitants – have gone to warfare over the area.
Certainly, the picturesque valley of Kashmir is on the coronary heart of their tensions.
The 2 neighbours fought three of their 4 earlier wars over Kashmir, spanning 22,200 sq. kilometres (85,800 sq. miles). Each international locations at the moment management elements of Kashmir – with China controlling some elements of it – however proceed to assert it in full.
How have tensions escalated for the reason that Pahalgam assault?
Since April 22, tensions have escalated, culminating in already restricted diplomatic relations taking an additional hit.
- India has suspended its participation within the Indus Waters Treaty, below which it shares waters from six rivers with Pakistan. As a result of India is the higher riparian state, it may, in concept, prohibit Pakistan’s entry to water to which it’s entitled and on which it relies upon. India additionally revoked visas for Pakistani nationals.
- Pakistan threatened to droop the Simla Agreement.
- Each international locations have expelled one another’s diplomats and nationals, whereas the nations have additionally closed their borders and shuttered airspace.
Inside Indian-administered Kashmir, authorities have detained greater than 2,000 residents, a few of them below antiterrorism legal guidelines, demolished properties of alleged fighters and imposed strict safety measures.
Why did India name it Operation Sindoor?
The Indian army has dubbed its missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir “Operation Sindoor”. That identify is critical.
Sindoor is the Hindi phrase for vermilion, a crimson pigment which married Hindu girls usually apply to their brow. The identify of India’s army operation is an obvious reference to the way during which the attackers shot their victims in Pahalgam on April 22.
A number of survivor accounts have detailed how the gunmen segregated male vacationers from the ladies, after which pointedly recognized those that had been non-Muslim earlier than capturing them lifeless, leaving their Hindu wives widowed. The sindoor is often now not worn after a lady’s husband passes away.
