Indian missiles have struck targets in Pakistan on Tuesday night, the militaries of both countries confirmed in statements.
Pakistan’s minister of defence said at least three civilians, including a child, were killed after India fired missiles at Pakistani territory, AFP reported. “They have targeted multiple locations, which all are civilian ... We have confirmed reports of three civilians killed that includes one child,” Khawaja Muhammad Asif told AFP.
Earlier a Pakistani military spokesman said three died in the attacks and 12 people were wounded.
The Indian attacks formed part of Operation Sindoor, an Indian action that it said targeted “terrorist” infrastructure in Pakistan, including the parts of Kashmir it governs.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s military said it would respond to the strikes.
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Altogether, nine sites were targeted, the Indian military said. It said its actions had been “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature” and that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted.
The statement said the strikes came in the wake of the “barbaric” attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepalese citizen were killed in Kashmir last month.
India’s military posted the words “justice is served” to the social media platform X.
Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said India’s claim of targeting terrorist camps was “false”. He said the missiles were fired from Indian airspace.
One of the missiles struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed, and a woman and man were injured, a Pakistan official said.
The officials said Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes, without providing any details. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media on the record.
The Pakistani army spokesman, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif, told ARY News that no Indian aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace.
“This was a cowardly attack targeting innocent civilians under the cover of darkness,” Mr Sharif told the broadcaster.
Multiple loud explosions were heard in the Pakistani Kashmir area close to the mountains around the city of Muzaffarabad after midnight on Tuesday.
United Nations secretary-general António Guterres was very concerned about Indian military operations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, his spokesperson said on Tuesday, and was calling for maximum military restraint from India and Pakistan.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the spokesperson said.
The missile attacks come after weeks of increased tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with Pakistan’s defence minister Mr Asif warning publicly of an “imminent” clash.
The countries have been in disputes over the blame for a terrorist attack in Kashmir and river water which originates in India but is vital to agriculture in Pakistan.
Pakistani officials earlier said that India has almost entirely stopped the flow of water across the border through the Chenab river.
The move followed India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a bilateral pact more than six decades old, which it said was in retaliation for the killing of 26 people in the disputed region of Kashmir last month. Pakistan has denied any involvement.
The risk of a clash has also impacted airlines, with Europe’s largest carriers starting to avoid Pakistani airspace, adding another detour to global flight paths that have become increasingly caught up in military standoffs around the world.
Some flights were redirected on Tuesday night as the strikes took place. – Agencies
