Why tensions in Kashmir are sparking fears of war
Why tensions in Kashmir are sparking fears of war
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• Major escalation: India and Pakistan are on the brink of a wider conflict after India launched strikes on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India said it targeted “terrorist infrastructure” in the wake of a tourist massacre in India-controlled Kashmir last month.
• Deadly attacks: Pakistan’s military said 31 people were killed in India’s attacks. According to a senior Indian defense source, shelling by Pakistan killed at least 12 people on the Indian side of the de facto border that divides Kashmir.
• Pakistan pledges retaliation: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan will only hit military targets in India. Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed Pakistan destroyed Indian fighter jets in an hour-long air battle.
• About the Kashmir dispute: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each control parts of Kashmir but claim it in full and have fought three wars over the territory.
Our live coverage of the conflict between India and Pakistan has moved here.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to respond to India’s strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir that were carried out in the early hours of Wednesday local time.
What that response entails may well decide whether the two countries are able to find an off-ramp or become locked into an escalating confrontation.
One option for Pakistan is to claim victory, pointing to the jets it claims to have downed. This option depends on the truth of Pakistan’s claims that it has downed five Indian Air Force planes, including three French-made Rafale fighter jets.
If there have indeed been losses for India, “Pakistan could claim victory by pointing to the downed assets, even if the circumstances are murky. This would allow Pakistan to claim it has imposed costs on Indian military targets,” said Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
A second option is to carry out strikes of its own. Pakistan might decide it wants to “respond in kind” because some of India’s strikes hit the densely populated province of Punjab in Pakistan, said Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.
Or Pakistani Army Chief Syed Asim Munir, who is reputed to be “more assertive” than his predecessor Qamar Javed Bajwa was in 2019 when India and Pakistan last clashed, may decide he wants to “up the ante,” said Madan.
However, given India’s messaging has been that it will retaliate if Pakistan’s next move goes too far, Islamabad could decide to keep any response “below a certain threshold,” Madan said.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said Islamabad will only hit military targets in India, not civilian.
The latest statements from Pakistan suggested it is thinking of a measured response, Madan said, adding however, that no possibilities can be ruled out.
“Largely on the basis of what we’ve seen in previous times, these are two rational actors who don’t want a broader war. Both have something to lose if there is a broader conflict,” she said.
The “dog fight” between Pakistani and Indian fighter jets, which Pakistani officials say downed five Indian planes, was one of the “largest and longest in recent aviation history,” a senior Pakistani security source told CNN.
A total of 125 fighter jets battled for over an hour, with neither side leaving its own airspace, according to the source who detailed that the missile exchanges were happening at distances sometimes greater than 160 kilometers (100 miles).
Neither side was prepared to send their pilots over the border because of a much smaller dogfight in 2019. An Indian Air Force pilot was shot down on Pakistani territory and paraded on TV before being returned to India. A humiliation, he said, neither side wanted this time.
At times, the Indian Air Force had to take multiple runs at targets, according to the source. Pakistan did its best to warn civilians in areas it believed to be potential targets, the source said, and that the military was able to minimize civilian casualties.
Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has called on Pakistan and India to de-escalate tensions.
“Hatred and violence are our common enemies, not each other,” she posted to X. “I strongly urge leaders in India and Pakistan to take steps to de-escalate tensions, protect civilians – especially children – and unite against the forces of division.”
She expressed her condolences to the loved ones of victims on both sides of the border and urged the international community to push for dialogue and diplomacy.
“I am thinking of all my friends and family – and all the educators, advocates and girls we work with – in Pakistan during this dangerous time,” she said, adding that peace is “the only way forward for our collective security and prosperity.”
Remember: In October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban while riding a bus home from school. In the days that followed the attack, the then-teenager was airlifted to hospital in Birmingham, England, for life-saving surgery. Now based in Britain, the activist has since devoted her working life to campaigning for educational rights for girls and women around the world under the umbrella of the international non-profit organization the Malala Fund.
India launched a military operation on Pakistan in the early hours of yesterday morning, and Pakistan claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force jets in response, in a major escalation between the South Asian neighbors and in response to April’s massacre on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir.
India said it targeted “terrorist infrastructure” belonging to two militant groups – Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). At a press conference, officials showed a map marking locations of what they said were several training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and inside Pakistan’s Punjab province. Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri again blamed Pakistan for the April attack and accused Islamabad of supporting “terrorism” in the disputed region, which the neighbor has denied.
Masood Azhar, the leader of JeM, said 10 of his relatives, including five children, were killed by the attack. JeM, which translates to the Army of the Prophet Mohammed, is a Pakistan-based group that operates across Kashmir, and seeks to unite the Indian-administered area of the disputed state with Pakistan. While the US and the UN Security Council listed JeM as a terrorist organization in 2001, an effort to include its leader, Masood Azhar, as an “internationally designated terrorist” was vetoed by China.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Pakistan’s message: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tasked his country’s military to enact “self-defense” with “corresponding actions,” according to his office. He lauded his country’s air force following a claim by military sources that it shot down five Indian fighter jets. Pakistan’s defense minister cautioned that Islamabad is “trying to avoid” a full-fledged war. Pakistan will only hit military targets in India, not civilian, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said.
India’s message: India is urging other countries, including the US, to tell Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism, an official government source said. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said “the world must show zero tolerance for terrorism.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has not spoken publicly since the strikes, chaired a high-level meeting with senior ministers.
Downed jets: A high-ranking French intelligence official told CNN that Pakistan downed one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), in what would mark the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat. Pakistan had claimed to have shot down five IAF jets in retaliation for Indian strikes, including three Rafales. Indian officials are yet to respond to the claim.
Casualties: The death toll in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir has risen to 31, with 57 injured, a military official said. Meanwhile, overnight shelling by the Pakistani military on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir killed 12 civilians and injured 57, an Indian defense source told CNN. India and Pakistan have had near daily exchanges of fire across the Line of Control since the April massacre.
People flee and evacuate on both sides of the border: Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir ordered the evacuation of citizens from areas they deemed dangerous. Residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir said they were forced to flee their homes and take shelter after India launched missile strikes. Meanwhile, authorities across all Indian states and territories conducted pre-planned civil defense security drills following an order from the home ministry not seen in decades.
New satellite images shared by Maxar Technologies show the aftermath of Indian strikes in Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Video also showed the Masjid-e- Markaz Taiba religious school in Muridke on fire after India’s strike early Wednesday.
Before the strikes on April 9, 2025:
After the strikes, taken on May 7, 2025:
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan will only hit military targets in India, not civilian.
“We will never target civilians,” he said in an interview on Pakistani news channel Geo News when asked about striking India. “We will abide by international law. We will contain this international confrontation to military targets only.”
There were 57 flights in the air when India launched its attack on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir early Wednesday local time, Pakistan’s military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said.
“There were multiple flights that were in the air at the time and the lives of the thousands of passengers on them were put in danger,” he said.
Chaudhry said the flights included planes from Middle Eastern and East Asian airlines.
In an address streamed on state television, Chaudhry shared images from flight-tracking site FlightRadar24 showing multiple planes in Pakistani airspace. CNN corroborated that the images showed three diversions shortly after 1 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning.
United States President Donald Trump encouraged de-escalation between India and Pakistan today following a sharp escalation between the two countries. He said in the Oval Office that he was willing to assist in easing the current violence.
“My position is I get along with both. I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop, and hopefully they can stop now,” Trump said, adding the situation was “so terrible.”
“They’ve gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now, but I know both. We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop. And if I can do anything to help, I will. I will be there,” he said.
So far, it is not clear how much of a mediating role the US has taken in the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the interim national security adviser, spoke to officials from both India and Pakistan yesterday evening.
India is urging other countries, including the United States, to tell Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism, an official Indian government source said.
The source indicated that what happens next is up to Pakistan and repeatedly emphasized that Indian strikes early Wednesday local time targeted “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and were designed to be measured and non-escalatory. The source described the strikes as a rightful response by India to last month’s Kashmir tourist massacre — which New Delhi blamed on its neighbor but Islamabad denied.
India had waited two weeks to see if Pakistan took “clear, demonstrable steps” in response to the attack, but no such steps were taken, the source said. They also claimed that India had intelligence that suggested potential further attacks.
The source said India is also still working out details on the alleged downing of Indian jets by Pakistan.
Conversation with the US: Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also the interim national security adviser, spoke “at length” on a call, which took place shortly after the strikes began. The source could not say if the US was given a concrete heads up ahead of the strikes.
The US State Department said yesterday that Rubio spoke to the national security advisers from India and Pakistan and “urged both to keep lines of communication open and avoid escalation.”
The Pakistan Air Force reduced Indian jets to “smithereens,” the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed, warning Pakistan would avenge the deaths of those killed by India’s strikes.
“In an hour-long air battle, our pilots blew up the jets of the enemy to smithereens,” he said in an address to the nation on state television Wednesday night local time.
He added: “It only took a few hours for the enemy to fall on its knees.”
Pakistan claimed earlier Wednesday to have shot down five Indian Air Force jets in retaliation for Indian strikes, including three elite French-made Rafales. Indian officials have yet to respond to the claim.
Referring to the 31 people Pakistan says were killed in India’s attack, he added: “The blood of these martyrs will be avenged.”
The prime minister said Pakistan has been among the countries most impacted by terrorism in the region, having lost tens of thousands of lives and suffering financial losses in the fight against it over the years.
Since the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, when gunmen killed 26 people — mostly Indian tourists — Pakistan has stressed its condemnation of terrorism and pushed back on Indian allegations that Pakistan was behind the massacre.
The death toll in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir has risen to 31, with 57 injured, military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Wednesday night local time.
He cited India’s firing at the Line of Control — the de-facto border in the disputed Kashmir region — as a reason for the increase in casualties.
Pakistan’s president and prime minister attended the funeral of the seven-year-old son of an army colonel who was killed in Indian strikes on Pakistan, the country’s armed forces said in a statement Wednesday.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined other senior government and army officials attending the funeral ceremony of the son of Lt. Col. Zaheer Abbas Turi, who was killed in Dawarandi, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Following funeral prayers in Islamabad, the Pakistani prime minister condemned India’s “deliberate targeting of civilians” as a “reprehensible act of cowardice,” the statement from Pakistan’s armed forces said.
The Indian military said that it targeted “terrorist infrastructure” across nine sites in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It claims that no military sites were targeted in its strikes and that there had been no reports of civilian casualties.
“The President & the Prime Minister affirmed that the valiant Armed Forces of Pakistan are resolutely confronting Indian forces across all fronts, delivering a strong and uncompromising response,” the statement said.
The leaders said the deadly attacks, which killed at least 26 people in Pakistan, will be met with “decisive action,” the statement added.
A high-ranking French intelligence official told CNN today that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan, in what would mark the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat.
Pakistan claimed earlier today to have shot down five Indian Air Force jets in retaliation for Indian strikes, including three Rafales. Indian officials are yet to respond to the claim.
The French official told CNN that French authorities were looking into whether more than one Rafale jets were shot down by Pakistan overnight.
Pictures taken of parts of an aircraft that crashed in Indian-administered Kashmir show the label of a French manufacturer, but experts said it was not possible to say whether the part came from a Rafale aircraft.
Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of the jet, has not responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
Some background: The Rafale is a 10-ton, twin-engine multirole fighter, equipped with a 30mm cannon for air combat and ground support, along with air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs, and cruise missiles.
Before this latest escalation, India had 36 Rafale jets in its Air Force, purchased from French manufacturer Dassault Aviation.
The French military has not officially commented on the incident.
Pakistan’s defense minister has warned that India’s latest assault marked an “invitation to expand the conflict” between the two neighbors — but cautioned that Islamabad is “trying to avoid” a full-fledged war.
New Delhi’s deadly barrage on Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir early Wednesday was a “clear-cut violation,” according to Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
“(India) crossed an international boundary,” Asif told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Connect the World. “This is a clear-cut violation, and an invitation to expand the conflict and maybe convert it into something much more wider and much more dangerous for the region.”
He insisted that Pakistan’s military was braced “for an all-out war,” after India raised the “stakes” this week — following decades of tensions in one of the most militarized places in the world.
“What happens next is we are prepared for an all-out war. There is absolutely no doubt, because India is increasing the intensity, the stakes of this conflict,” added Asif. “So… we can’t be caught with our guards down.”
Claims of downed jets: Pakistan’s armed forces fired missiles and struck down five Indian fighter jets “in a dogfight,” according to the country’s defense chief, who described the military’s actions as a “befitting lesson” for New Delhi.
When pressed for evidence, Asif cited social media video.
“(India has) already admitted that three planes were downed,” Asif told CNN. “These planes were downed in a dogfight. Missiles were fired by our planes, and they were shot down. Very simple.”
Contrary to Asif’s claims, India has not said that any of its planes have been shot down.
This post has been updated with additional comments from Pakistan’s defense minister.
Israel’s ambassador to India said in a social media post, following India’s strikes on Pakistan, that his country “supports India’s right for self defense.”
“Terrorists should know there’s no place to hide from their heinous crimes against the innocent,” Reuven Azar wrote, adding “#OperationSindoor,” the Indian military’s codename for their strikes on Pakistani targets.
Unlike most international statements as India and Pakistan teeter on the edge of a wider conflict, the ambassador’s post does not include a call for restraint or de-escalation.
Some context: The two countries share deep military ties. India imports more weaponry from Israel than any other country, accounting for over a third of all Israeli arms exports, according to recent figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
In India’s capital, New Delhi, civilians who spoke with CNN had mixed feelings about the government’s decision to carry out a series of overnight strikes on Pakistan.
The Indian government said the strikes were carried out in response to an April terror attack in India-administered Kashmir that killed at least 25 Indian citizens.
Charu Murgai, 38, a makeup artist in Delhi, said she felt “that war might make the things more terrible, for the economy, for the civilians, for the people who are going to fight for on behalf of us,” while another said she didn’t support the decision by the government to strike Pakistan.
“I want everybody to make peace. The war has started, but I want it to end soon, because it’s important for all of us,” said Muskan Maurya, a 21-year-old graduate student.
But some supported the government’s actions, with 45-year-old Monika Lakra, an educator, telling CNN she was “very happy” that the government had taken action, giving “kudos to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Maurya said she doesn’t “hate the normal people of Pakistan. I would love to meet them. I would love to hang out with them, but the government of Pakistan I really hate,” she told CNN.
“It’s a very big word to say hate, but I do hate the Government of Pakistan because they have known that these terrorists can have a very big impact on the normal likes of people in Kashmir, and they still allow them to stay there.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded his country’s air force following a claim by military sources that it shot down five Indian fighter jets.
Sharif praised the Pakistani military’s readiness “to deal with the enemy’s planes,” as he addressed the country’s parliament in capital Islamabad for the first time since India’s attack early on Wednesday local time.
The prime minister also told lawmakers that India used dozens of warplanes in its attack. India’s assault killed at least 26 people, including a 3-year-old girl, and wounded at least 46 other people. according to a Pakistani military official.
Sharif did not elaborate on how Pakistan might respond to India’s attack, after he earlier described it as an “act of war.” His office said the country’s military had been “authorized to undertake corresponding actions in this regard,” according to an earlier statement.
“A few days ago, India was proudly showing off its purchase of Rafale jets. But one shouldn’t be too proud,” Sharif told lawmakers. “These jets flew from there in combat form, but our air force was also prepared.”
“We are a nuclear power and a conventional warfare power. There is no higher respect and honor than this,” he added.
Lawmakers filled the country’s parliament building with calls of “Pakistan Zindabad,” which translates to “Long Live Pakistan.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistani military sources said they brought down five Indian fighter jets and one drone in an act of “self-defense” — including three Rafale aircraft, which are highly sophisticated multi-role jets manufactured in France. CNN cannot independently verify the claim and has reached out to the Indian government for a response.
The number of casualties from overnight shelling by the Pakistani military on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir has risen, with 12 civilians killed and 57 injured, a senior Indian defense source told CNN.
India and Pakistan have had near daily exchanges of fire across the Line of Control since the April 22 tourist massacre that sent relations between the two sides plummeting.
Pakistan’s military previously confirmed it shelled Indian positions in Indian-administered Kashmir overnight in response to India’s airstrikes on its territory. India accused the Pakistanis of unprovoked firing over the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani spoke to top officials from both India and Pakistan today, holding a phone call with the Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and a separate call with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the Qatari foreign ministry said in two statements.
According to the statements, which were nearly identical, Al-Thani “expressed Qatar’s deep concern” over the situation and affirmed the country’s “full support for all regional and international efforts aimed at resolving outstanding issues between the two countries through dialogue and peaceful means.”
For context: Doha has successfully acted as a mediator recently. Qatar was one of the actors mediating talks between Israel and Hamas that led to a temporary ceasefire earlier this year, played a role in discussions that led to the return of deported Ukrainian children from Russia, and facilitated the freeing of an American citizen who spent more than two years in detention in Afghanistan.
India’s military operation inside Pakistan comes despite major global players urging restraint in the days leading up to the strikes.
Here’s how major global players have responded:
Authorities across India are conducting civil defense security drills on Wednesday, hours after the country launched military strikes on targets in Pakistan.
The drills had been planned before the strikes. In an order from the home ministry not seen in decades, the Indian government had ordered them to be carried out in all states and union territories.
According to official statements posted on X, 244 locations will be included in the drills that will include the sounding of emergency sirens, evacuation procedures and blackouts.
Several Gulf carriers have suspended flights to Pakistan, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, with airport closures in northern India also affecting many flight routes.
Emirates has canceled flights from Dubai to Sialkot, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar on Wednesday. “Customers on cancelled flights must not proceed to the airport,” it said on its website.
Flights to and from Karachi are not impacted and will be operating as per schedule, the airline said.
Etihad said it had canceled flights to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on Wednesday.
“Additionally, some other services may be rerouted to avoid the affected airspace, potentially resulting in extended flight times,” Etihad Airways said in a statement.
Qatar Airways said it had “temporarily suspended flights” to Pakistan, citing Pakistani airspace closure.
“The airline is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to prioritise the safety of its passengers and crew,” it said.
Meanwhile, Indian carriers including SpiceJet and IndiGo have issued travel advisories regarding cancelations to and from destinations in northern India.
“Due to the ongoing situation, airports in parts of northern India, including Dharamshala (DHM), Leh (IXL), Jammu (IXJ), Srinagar (SXR), and Amritsar (ATQ), are closed until further notice. Departures, arrivals, and consequential flights may be impacted. Passengers are advised to plan their journey accordingly and check flight status,” SpiceJet said Wednesday morning.
Multiple major airlines said Wednesday they were re-routing or canceling planes to and from Europe due to the escalation between India and Pakistan, with more than two dozen international flights diverted to avoid Pakistan airspace, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Keep in mind: Many airlines had already begun to avoid flying over Pakistan prior to India’s strikes early Wednesday morning.
Access to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has been restored in Pakistan as conflict breaks out with India.
Internet watchdog Netblocks confirmed access to the social media site was restored on Wednesday in an email to CNN.
It had been banned in the country since February 2024, around the time of the Pakistan elections, according to Amnesty International.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has tasked his country’s military to enact “self-defense” with “corresponding actions,” hours after India launched a barrage of deadly strikes early Wednesday, according to his office.
Sharif called on Pakistan’s Armed Forces to “avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives,” after an emergency National Security Commitee (NSC) meeting on Wednesday.
India’s military had struck sites in both Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, killing at least 26 people – including a 3-year-old girl – and wounding at least 46 other people.
“Pakistan reserves the right to respond, in self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty,” the readout from the NSC meeting said.
“The Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorized to undertake corresponding actions in this regard,” the statement added.
“The nation stands galvanized and resolute in the face of any further aggression.”
New Delhi said it launched the attack in response to a deadly massacre in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22. Militant gunmen killed more than two dozen people, mostly tourists, in the restive region of Jammu and Kashmir. Islamabad repeatedly denied involvement in the attack.
Since then, both parties have leveled warring rhetoric, rupturing already fractious relations between the two neighbors and escalating fears of all-out fighting.
A Pakistani militant chief targeted in India’s overnight strikes said 10 of his relatives, including five children, had been killed by the attack.
Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) – one of two militant factions that India’s military said it targeted overnight – said his older sister, his brother-in-law, his nephew and niece were among those who died.
“The coward Modi targeted innocent children, unmarried women and the elderly,” Azhar said in a statement on Wednesday. “The grief and shock are so much that they cannot be described.”
The Indian military said it targeted “terrorist infrastructure” across nine sites in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India claimed that no military sites were targeted in its strikes and that there had been no reports of civilian casualties.
Pakistan, however, said Wednesday’s strikes had harmed civilians and targeted mosques across six locations in its territory. Jaish-e-Mohammed, which translates to the Army of the Prophet Mohammed, is a Pakistan-based group that operates across Kashmir, and seeks to unite the Indian-controlled area of the disputed state with Pakistan.
While the US and the UN Security Council listed JeM as a terrorist organization in 2001, an effort to include its leader, Masood Azhar, as an “internationally designated terrorist” was vetoed by China.
Videos shared to social media show the moment of impact as Indian airstrikes land inside Pakistan.
CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout breaks down what we know:
Video shows Indian attacks on Pakistan as tension boils
Video shows Indian attacks on Pakistan as tension boils
02:09
India launched early-morning strikes on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, and Islamabad claimed it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets in “self-defense,” a major escalation between the rivaling neighbors.
The strikes came more than two weeks after a massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on its neighbor — which Islamabad denied.
Here’s what we know:
Syed Asim Munir, a former spy chief who was appointed as Pakistan’s army chief in 2022, will play a key role in determining how far conflict may escalate following India’s strikes on Wednesday, analysts told CNN.
Seen as a hardliner on India by critics, Munir is expected to face pressure at home after India’s missile attack, which it said had struck “terrorist infrastructure,” and Islamabad said had killed at least eight people, including children.
Munir’s appointment came amid intense debate around the military’s influence on public life.
Pakistan’s powerful military is often accused of meddling in the politics of a country that has experienced numerous coups and been ruled by generals for extended periods since it gained independence from Britain in 1947.
“I think that for Pakistan not to retaliate somehow would undermine his (Munir’s) credibility and his influence,” said Malcolm Davis, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
“For domestic political reasons and for… bureaucratic and organizational politics within the Pakistani military, I think that he will probably play a key role in deciding how Pakistan responds.”
CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton said Munir joined “a long line of military leaders who have basically called the shots in Pakistani politics for a very long time.”
He said Munir has viewed Pakistan’s conflict with India through the lens of religion and treated the tensions as a national issue.
“He believes that he is defending the honor of his country,” Leighton said.
Against the backdrop of him is the Indian government’s nationalist sentiment which adds to the “recipe for potential conflict,” the retired colonel said.
“He is… running against a very strong Indian leadership that is seeing it from the opposite side, very much in the Hindu nationalist, Hindu nationalist point.”
Indian shelling hit an intake structure on the Noseri Dam on the Neelum river in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a Pakistani security source told CNN.
The Noseri Dam was targeted by Indian shelling last night around 2 a.m. local time, damaging the intake gates, according to the source.
CNN has contacted India’s foreign and water ministries for comment.
The Neelum is part of the sprawling Indus river system, a vital resource supporting hundreds of millions of livelihoods across Pakistan and northern India.
Following the massacre of 26 civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that India blamed on Pakistan, India suspended the Indus Water Treaty, a treaty which governs the sharing of water from the Indus River system.
The Indus originates in Tibet and flows through China and Indian-controlled Kashmir before reaching Pakistan.
Islamabad has called any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan an act of war.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a high-level meeting with senior ministers from his cabinet.
In video released by his office, Modi can be seen sitting alongside senior government figures including Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Modi has not spoken publicly since India launched strikes on neighboring Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday.
A United Nations team has arrived at a site in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that Islamabad says was hit by India’s strikes, a CNN stringer said.
The CNN stringer at the site reported seeing two white UN vehicles in the city of Muzaffarabad, where Pakistan said a mosque was struck early Wednesday.
India claimed that no military sites were targeted in its strikes and that there had been no reports of civilian casualties.
Pakistan, however, said Wednesday’s strikes had harmed civilians and targeted mosques across six locations in its territory.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has postponed a trip to visit to Croatia, The Netherlands and Norway, a senior government official told CNN.
No official reason has been given for the delay, but the announcement comes hours after New Delhi launched strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Modi has not publicly spoken about the military action on India’s neighbor.
Residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir say they were forced to flee their homes and take shelter after India launched missile strikes on its neighbor.
“All of a sudden, the electricity went out. I thought a transformer [had] burst, but later came to know that Indian troops started shelling and firing at us,” Raja Shahid Bashir, a resident of Shawai in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told CNN.
“Shells landed close to our home and we came out and took our livestock and belongings and took shelter,” said Bashir.
Another resident, Shakeel Butt, told CNN she had to flee when shells started falling on the village. “A shell landed at a house close to the mosque in which two people were injured. Shells also hit other houses in our area and we fled from our area to a safer place,” she said.
India’s military said it had struck nine “terrorist camps” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. At least 26 civilians were killed due to Indian army action, a Pakistan military spokesperson said, according to the Reuters news agency. Pakistan said it retaliated by shooting down five Indian Air Force jets and a drone. India has not confirmed the fighter jet losses.
Zeeshan Akram, a resident of Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province, told Reuters that drones appeared in the early hours of Wednesday and struck a mosque in the city, destroying it.
“They hit the mosque directly—destroyed its courtyard, the minister’s office in front of the mosque, and the roof. Everything was crushed. There was one person sitting on the roof, on duty, he was martyred,” Akram told Reuters.
“Fear and terror spread in people. People had gone out into the fields, in the open, just like that,” Waqas Ahmed, another resident of Muridke, told Reuters.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires in Islamabad – the head of India’s diplomatic mission in the country – to formally protest India’s strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday.
“It was conveyed that India’s blatant act of aggression constitutes a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. Such actions are in contravention of the UN Charter, international law, and established norms governing inter-state relations,” the ministry said.
“Pakistan firmly rejected India’s baseless justifications for its hostile conduct.”
It called the strikes “unprovoked,” saying they had killed several civilians including women and children, and warned that India’s military action posed a “serious threat” to peace in the region.
The leader of India’s diplomatic mission in Pakistan used to be the high commissioner – but clashes in 2019 between the two countries prompted them to downgrade diplomatic ties with each other and remove the high commissioner, leaving the chargé d’affaires in place instead.
Overnight shelling by the Pakistani military has killed at least eight people on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir, a senior Indian defense source told CNN.
India and Pakistan have had near daily exchanges of fire across the Line of Control since the April 22 tourist massacre that sent relations between the two sides plummeting.
Pakistan’s military has previously confirmed it shelled Indian positions in Indian-administered Kashmir overnight in response to India’s airstrikes on its territory. India accused the Pakistanis of unprovoked firing over the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Kashmir.
This post has been updated with the latest on the shelling.
India said its military strikes on Pakistan targeted Lashkar-e-Tayyiba “terrorist infrastructure” sites after Pakistan failed to act against the groups based in its territory behind a massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.
The operation – dubbed “Operation Sindoor” – lasted for 25 minutes from 1.05 a.m.-1.30 a.m. local time, Col. Sofiya Qureshi said in a press conference on Wednesday.
None of the three Indian officials who spoke at the briefing responded to a claim from Pakistan that it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets during India’s attack. CNN has been unable to verify the claim.
The briefing started with a video montage of the aftermath of attacks on India through the years that New Delhi has blamed on its neighbor Pakistan – and which Pakistan has long denied.
The officials also showed footage of what they said were strikes on the targets in Pakistan.
The officials showed a map marking locations of what they said were several Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and inside Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri again blamed Pakistan for the April attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir and accused Islamabad of supporting “terrorism” in the disputed region.
“Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control.”
The targets were selected based on “intelligence,” Misri said.
Qureshi said no military installation was targeted in the operation and there had been no reports of civilian casualties in Pakistan.
A Pakistan military spokesperson said at least 26 civilians were killed due to Indian army action, according to Reuters.
At least 26 civilians were killed and 46 injured due to Indian army action, a Pakistan military spokesperson said, according to Reuters.
Heavily nationalist rhetoric has colored the coverage from many Indian news channels since New Delhi’s strikes against Pakistan.
“How India crushed the enemy,” flashed a headline on one news channel. “India strikes Pakistan hard,” read another.
One news organization carried an image depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a Captain America-esque shield with the colors of the Indian national flag.
On some channels, animations of military jets and explosions could be seen across screens as anchors covered “Operation Sindoor,” the official name of India’s military attack on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Such jingoism is not uncommon for India’s often loud and boisterous media, which has been accused of toeing the government line.
Modi aims to govern a proud, nationalistic nation that believes in its ability to handle difficult situations. Following the tourist massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir, many media outlets immediately called for blood.
Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have ordered the evacuation of citizens from areas they deemed dangerous, as the conflict between New Delhi and Islamabad escalates.
The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, has directed districts to move villagers from “vulnerable areas to safer locations.”
Accommodation, food and medicines will be provided for evacuated citizens, the Lieutenant Governor’s office said on X.
The orders come hours after India launched a series of strikes on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, pushing the rival neighbors to the brink of full-scale war.
Pakistan said the attack killed at least eight people, including children. The Indian Army said three civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir were killed in cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops.
A key ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is “proud of our armed forces” following the country’s strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
“#OperationSindoor is Bharat’s response to the brutal killing of our innocent brothers in Pahalgam,” Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on X, using the Hindi name for India. Shah has been beside Modi’s side for decades and is often referred to as the second most powerful person in India.
Wednesday’s strikes come more than two weeks after militants killed 26 civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir. New Delhi pinned the massacre on Pakistan, though Islamabad denied involvement.
“The Modi government is resolved to give a befitting response to any attack on India and its people. Bharat remains firmly committed to eradicating terrorism from its roots,” Shah added in his X post.
China has expressed regret over India’s military action against Pakistan and said it’s concerned about the current developments.
“India and Pakistan are neighbors that cannot be moved, and both are also China’s neighbors,” a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said.
As the conflict between Pakistan and India escalates, China has found itself in a diplomatic tight spot.
For weeks, Beijing has been closely watching the tit-for-tat responses between its longtime “ironclad friend,” Islamabad, and New Delhi, a regional rival with which it has a long-running border dispute.
The flare-up comes as China has been trying to improve relations with India as part of a broader diplomatic push to shore up ties with neighbors and trade partners alike to counter pressure from the Trump administration.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is one of China’s closest partners and a key supporter of its Belt and Road Initiative. China is Pakistan’s main arms supplier, with Chinese arms making up 81 per cent of Pakistan’s weapons imports in the past five years, according to data from Swedish think tank the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
On April 27 in a phone call with his counterpart, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi expressed support for Pakistan and said China is closely following developments between the countries.
“As Pakistan’s ironclad friend and all-weather strategic cooperative partner, China fully understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and supports Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests,” Wang said.
Pictures taken of parts of an aircraft that crashed in Indian-administered Kashmir show the label of a French manufacturer.
The label shows an aircraft part from French filtration company Le Bozec et Gautier. Le Bozec is a French-based subsidiary of Minnesota’s Donaldson Company.
A press release from Donaldson in 2005, when it acquired Le Bozec, says the French company “designs, manufactures and sells filtration equipment for the management of air, fuel, hydraulic fluid and air pressure on aircraft and helicopters.”
Pakistan claims to have shot down three of India’s top-of-the-line French-made Rafale fighter jets, but experts said it was not possible to say whether the part came from that aircraft, nor Pakistan’s claims of shooting down the aircraft.
Peter Layton, a senior fellow at Griffith Asia Institute and former Australian air force officer, said the part looked like it could be from a fuel tank, possibly an external drop tank.
The Pakistan Air force also has French-made Mirage III and V jets, Layton added.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Residents of Indian-administered Kashmir woke to the sounds of explosions and shelling after India launched cross-border strikes against its neighbor, with some hiding in fear and others cheering the strikes as long-overdue revenge.
“We have been tense and anxious and glued to the television channels,” a 30-year-old civilian who lives near the city of Kupwara told CNN. “This is the first time I’ve heard shelling this intense over my village.”
“I woke up around 2:30 a.m. and heard sounds of explosions and firing across the border. This went on until 5:30 a.m.,” said the resident, who requested not to be named.
India’s strikes – on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” – come more than two weeks after militants killed 26 civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir. New Delhi pinned the massacre on Pakistan, though Islamabad denied those claims.
Pakistan said it shot down five Indian Air Force jets in response. India has not confirmed the fighter jet losses and CNN is unable to verify the claim.
“We spent a sleepless night because of the heavy shelling,” said one resident living in the village of Uroosa, close to the Line of Control that divides Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir.
“There were cries of children, women and it was a desperate situation,” said the resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A 21-year-old student living in the village of Uroosa told CNN that “shelling was happening all night. Everyone is scared, there is damage in the area too. People are scared and are planning to leave.”
“We are fifteen members in the family holed up in two rooms,” the student said. “We are sitting in the back rooms of the home so we can escape shelling.”
Elsewhere in India-administered Kashmir, residents cheered news of India’s attack, according to video footage by ANI.
“This is a very good move and we were waiting for India to give a befitting reply to Pakistan and India has given a commendable reply to them and we are happy that this happened,” Rishi, a resident of Poonch, told ANI.
Another resident told the outlet that “there was much anger among the people” following last month’s massacre. “Hence, this was indeed needed.”
An unidentified aircraft has crashed in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to an eyewitness and a local government official.
The aircraft came down in the village of Wuyan, which lies 19 kilometers to the southeast of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“We heard the sound of a flying plane and then there was a big explosion. We rushed out of our homes in panic and saw it was on fire. Luckily no one was injured,” local resident Abdul Rashid told CNN.
A duty officer at the fire service headquarters in Srinagar told CNN that a fighter aircraft had crashed on a school building in Wuyan.
“Our personnel are still at the site and details are awaited,” the officer, who requested anonymity, said.
Photos published by AFP news agency showed aircraft wreckage lying in a field next to a red brick building in Wuyan, which CNN has also geolocated.
It was not immediately clear from the pictures of the wreckage who the aircraft belonged to.
Locals in Srinagar heard a loud explosion earlier on Wednesday around the time when India said it was conducting airstrikes against Pakistan.
The name India chose for its military operation against Pakistan appears laden with religious symbolism.
“Operation Sindoor” is a reference to the red vermilion, or powder, many Hindu women wear on their foreheads after marriage.
April’s massacre on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir left several women widowed.
In the days following the attack, an image of a woman lying next to the lifeless body of her husband went viral, becoming a symbol of the pain and heartbreak endured by victims of the assault.
India’s defense and foreign ministers have both posted an image on X of the name of the operation, which depicts the red powder.
“The world must show zero tolerance for terrorism,” India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar wrote on X.
“Victory to India,” Defense Minister Rajnath Singh wrote in Hindi.
Following India’s strikes on what it said was “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said “the world must show zero tolerance for terrorism” in a post on X.
The strikes Wednesday came more than two weeks after a massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on its neighbor.
It’s now morning in India and Pakistan and the region is on edge after New Delhi launched a military attack on its neighbor in the early hours of Wednesday. Pakistan claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force jets in response, in a major escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Here’s what we know:
Correction: This post has been updated with the correct death toll from the tourist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
Commercial airlines are keeping almost entirely clear of Pakistani airspace, Flightradar24.com shows, after India launched strikes inside Pakistan in a major escalation between the two neighbors.
Pakistani security sources claim three of the five Indian planes it downed were Rafale fighter jets — prized assets of the Indian Air Force that were only acquired several years ago as New Delhi looked to beef up its military.
CNN has not independently confirmed Pakistan’s claims and has reached out to the Indian government and military for response.
Before this latest escalation, India had 36 Rafale jets in its Air Force, purchased from French manufacturer Dassault Aviation.
The fighter jets were first ordered in 2016 and began arriving in 2020. At the time, India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, claimed the new jets were “among the best in the world,” and would make the Indian Air Force “much stronger to deter any threat that may be posed on our country.”
In late April, India signed a $7.4 billion deal to buy 26 more Rafale jets from France, with delivery expected from 2030.
What to know about these jets: The jets come in one-seat or two-seat versions and can be armed with air-to-air, air-to-ground and anti-ship missiles as well as a 30mm cannon, according to the manufacturer. Dassault Aviation also touts the Rafale’s Flight Control System, which includes the ability for it to fly on autopilot in a terrain-following mode in all weather conditions.
The Rafale is not a stealth jet, but it is promoted as having a low profile that is not easy to detect on radar. It also has one distinct advantage — combat experience.
Flown by French forces, the Rafale has been used in operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria, according to Dassault Aviation’s website.
India and Pakistan, two neighbors with a long history of conflict, are in dangerous territory, analysts warn, with Islamabad vowing to retaliate against New Delhi’s strikes and the risk of tit-for-tat responses spiraling into an all out war.
Wednesday’s operation inside Pakistan is the deepest India has struck inside its neighbor since the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, the biggest war between the two countries.
The situation is now “obviously serious and fluid,” according to Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University. “Retaliation to India’s actions will likely now be inevitable.”
India’s decision to strike comes more than two weeks after 26 people, mostly Indian civilians, were massacred in an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the assault, a claim Pakistan denies.
Pakistan said eight people were killed during India’s Wednesday strikes, including children, in what the country’s prime minister described as “an act of war.” Islamabad also claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force planes and a drone during the attack.
New Delhi has not publicly confirmed Pakistan’s claim and CNN cannot independently it.
While India’s decision to strike Pakistan isn’t unsurprising – analysts had been saying it was a matter of when, and not if – analysts fear we could see further escalations between the two nuclear-armed nations in the coming hours and days.
“If the war escalates, even if not to the nuclear threshold, it is very likely to hold grave consequences for Indians and Pakistanis alike, as well as the broader region and the world,” said Derek J. Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, a US-based think tank.
India’s strikes against Pakistan come more than two weeks of mounting pressure on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to forcefully retaliate against its neighbor after a tourist massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Last month militants stormed the mountainous and picturesque district of Pahalgam and killed 25 Indian tourists in the worst assault on Indian civilians in recent years. The massacre immediately cratered already hostile relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, with New Delhi swift to blame its neighbor.
Modi – a strongman Hindu-nationalist leader who has positioned himself as the protector of the nation and last year won a rare third term in power – immediately vowed to pursue the attackers “to the ends of the earth.”
He governs a proud, nationalistic nation that believes in its ability to handle difficult situations.
Following the massacre, India’s loud and often jingoistic media immediately called for blood.
“We want revenge” read a headline on one channel. “Bharat is battle ready,” read another, referring to India by its Sanskrit title.
Analysts say it was only a matter of time before Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded with force.
“Modi and his government believe it is imperative to respond to Pahalgam,” said Derek J. Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, a US-based think tank.
“Indians are very likely to support New Delhi’s response – regardless of what it is, perhaps except for a nuclear response – because they believe Pakistan must be deterred in the future.”
The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province has asked hospitals in the region to remain on alert and ordered schools to remain closed on Wednesday.
According to Pakistan’s military, six of the eight people killed in the strikes died in attacks on Ahmadpur East and Muridke in the Punjab province. CNN cannot independently verify the claim.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Punjab’s chief minister, announced she had issued emergency response orders for Punjab, in a post on X Tuesday.
The chief minister called on rescue teams, district administration and hospitals to remain on alert. She also said educational institutions in the province will remain closed on Wednesday.
Sharif said Pakistan wanted peace but would become “a legion” if war was imposed.
“India started it, we’ll finish it,” she wrote on X, adding that the whole nation stands with the Pakistani military.
Three civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir were killed in shelling by Pakistani troops from across the border, according to the Indian Army.
The Pakistan Army “resorted to arbitrary firing and artillery shelling” from posts across the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir, the Indian Army said in a statement.
“Indian Army are responding in proportionate manner,” the statement said.
Schools, colleges and educational institutions will be closed today across Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch “in view of the prevailing situation,” according to Divisional Commissioner Jammu.
These are areas in the Indian territory.
Five Indian Air Force jets and one drone were shot down by Pakistan during India’s attack, according to Pakistani security sources.
In a statement released to reporters, the security sources said three French-made Rafale jets, one MiG-29 and one SU-30 fighter jets were downed “in self-defense.” An Indian Heron drone was also shot down, they added.
A second senior Pakistani government official confirmed the same list of downed aircraft.
The briefing did not say precisely where the jets were downed or how.
Pakistani officials had earlier briefed that they shot down three aircraft and a drone.
CNN cannot independently verify the claims and has reached out to the Indian government for a response.
The United Arab Emirates is asking for India and Pakistan “to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and avoid further escalation that could threaten regional and international peace,” according to a statement from UAE Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“His Highness reaffirmed that diplomacy and dialogue remain the most effective means of peacefully resolving crises, and achieving the shared aspirations of nations for peace, stability, and prosperity,” the statement read.
Eight people were killed, including children, and 35 injured, Pakistan’s military spokesperson said after India launched military strikes on targets in Pakistan early Wednesday.
India targeted six locations with 24 strikes in both Pakistan and Pakistan administered-Kashmir, spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a news conference early Wednesday.
Previously, Pakistan said five locations were struck. India has said nine sites in total were targeted.
Five people were killed, including a 3-year-old girl, in Ahmadpur East, in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, Chaudhry said. One man was also killed in Punjab’s Muridke, a city near Lahore, the capital of the province.
In Pakistan administered-Kashmir, a 16-year-old girl and 18-year-old man were killed in the city of Kotli, he added.
Mosques were targeted in the strikes, according to the military spokesperson.
CNN cannot independently verify the claim.
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the capital of Pakistan, which is Islamabad.
India defended its military operation in Pakistan on Wednesday, claiming that its actions were “focused and precise.”
“They were measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature,” the Embassy of India said in a statement. “No Pakistani civilian, economic or military targets have been hit. Only known terror camps were targeted.”
According to Pakistani sources, at least eight people were killed in Wednesday’s operations, “including women and children.” Pakistani sources also said three Indian Air Force planes and a drone were shot down in locations “within Indian territory.” CNN cannot independently confirm the claims and has reached out to the Indian Ministry of Defence.
The embassy statement said it was clear that “Pakistani-based terrorists” were responsible for last month’s attack in Kashmir. But that instead of taking action, Pakistan “indulged in denial and made allegations of false flag operations against India.”
Kashmir has been a flashpoint in India-Pakistan relations since both gained their independence from Britain in 1947. The two nations to emerge from the bloody partition of British India — Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India — both claim Kashmir in full, and months after becoming independent, fought their first of three wars over the territory.
Here’s a quick recap:
1947: India and Pakistan gain independence from Great Britain. The ruler of Kashmir initially decides to remain independent, choosing not to become a part of either Pakistan or India. After militants from Pakistan invade, he signs a letter acceding to India. Pakistan does not recognize the letter as a legal document, sparking war. In 1949, the two countries agree to withdraw all troops behind a mutually agreed ceasefire line, later known as the Line of Control.
1965: India and Pakistan go to war again over Kashmir. The clash did not resolve the dispute over the territory.
1971: This was the biggest war fought between the two countries, which led to a humiliating loss for Pakistan and the creation of the state of Bangladesh from the region formerly known as East Pakistan.
1999: India and Pakistan fight a limited border conflict in Kashmir, after armed invaders from Pakistan cross the Line of Control in the town of Kargil.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the April attack in Kashmir, and urged India and Pakistan to “avoid a military confrontation that could easily spin out of control.”
“Make no mistake: A military solution is no solution,” Guterres wrote in a post on X, noting that tensions between the two neighbors are “at their highest in years.”
At least three Indian Air Force planes have been shot down, Pakistani security and government sources have told CNN, in the latest in the latest escalation between the two countries.
It comes shortly after India said it launched a military operation in Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure.” India has not confirmed the loss of any jets, CNN has reached out to the India authorities for comment.
At least eight people were killed in India’s strikes, Pakistan said.
Meantime, a blast was also heard in the city of Srinagar, the largest city in Indian-administrated Kashmir, according to eyewitnesses.
Here’s what we know so far:
CNN’s Elise Hammond, Aditi Sangal, Sophia Saifi, Rhea Mogul, Max Saltman, Avery Schmitz and Thomas Bordeaux and reporter Vedika Sud contributed reporting to this post.
CNN correspondent in Pakistan describes India's attackA third Indian aircraft has been shot down by Pakistan, Pakistani security and government sources have told CNN.
A senior Pakistani intelligence source said three Indian jets were shot down in locations “within Indian territory,” as well as a drone.
A separate senior Pakistan government source confirmed that three aircraft and a drone were shot down.
CNN cannot independently verify the claims and is reaching out to the Indian government and military for a response.
India’s strikes against Pakistan are the deepest New Delhi has ventured into Pakistan’s undisputed borders since the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.
Pakistan on Wednesday said five locations were struck by India, three of them in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and two in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The locations in Punjab are Ahmadpur East and Muridke.
The 1971 Indo-Pakistani War was a major military conflict between India and Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
The last time India struck inside Pakistan’s undisputed borders was in 2019, when Indian jets conducted airstrikes on several targets after it blamed Islamabad for a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in the region.
A blast was heard in the city of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir early Wednesday, eyewitnesses told CNN.
The cause of the blast is not yet known. Srinagar is the largest city in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Reports of the blast come after India launched a military operation against Pakistan, in a major escalation between the two neighbors following a massacre on tourists inside Indian-administered Kashmir.
India and Pakistan each control parts of Kashmir but claim it in full and have fought three wars over the territory. Kashmir is one of the most militarized places in the world.
Wednesday’s strikes by India are the most significant military actions since 2019, when Indian jets conducted airstrikes on several targets inside Pakistan.
India’s Minister of Defense has publicly responded to the military operation launched against Pakistan.
“Victory to India!” Rajnath Singh wrote on X in Hindi, in a short statement.
Senior India officials have spoken to their counterparts in a number of countries to brief them on the steps taken by New Delhi, a senior Indian government official told CNN.
Among the countries briefed were the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Russia.
Pakistan’s military claims it has shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft.
“There are two confirmed aircraft of the Indian Air Force have already been shot down,” Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesperson for the Pakistani military, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “There are other reports of multiple damages that the Pakistani forces, both on ground and air, have inflicted. But I can confirm you at least two aircraft of Indian Air Force that have been downed,” he added.
CNN cannot independently confirm Chaudhry’s claims that Indian planes were shot down. We are reaching out to the Indian Ministry of Defence for comment.
The locations of the engagement are “around Bhatinda” and Akhnoor, Chaudhry added, noting that there is an engagement “already ongoing between the two air forces.”
Bhatinda is a small town in the Indian state of Punjab that borders Pakistan and Akhnoor is located in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan issued a notice Tuesday night closing airspace around Lahore, in the country’s north, and the coastal city of Karachi amid airstrikes from India. The notice went into effect at 4:30 p.m. ET and is scheduled to expire on at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The notice to airmen, also known as a NOTAM, appears to have diverted numerous flights with routes planned through or near Pakistani airspace, according to flight data reviewed by CNN from FlightRadar24.
Citing the “changing airspace conditions in the region,” major Indian airline IndiGo reported impacted flights in and out of Jammu, Srinagar, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Dharamshala and Bikaner. SpiceJet, another airline, said some airports in northern India are closed “until further notice.”
As tensions between India and Pakistan increased in recent weeks after an April mass shooting in the disputed Kashmir territory, numerous airlines have avoided flying over Pakistan, including Air France and Lufthansa.
India said early Wednesday it had launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan administered-Kashmir.
Relations between India and Pakistan have cratered in recent weeks following a deadly rampage by gunmen who murdered 26 people, the majority Indian tourists, at a scenic spot in Kashmir. Read more about the attack.
Here’s what you need to know:
Targets: India said nine sites in total were targeted. Pakistan said five locations were struck, three of them in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and two in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Casualties: At least three people were killed, Pakistan said.
What India has said since: “Justice is Served,” the Indian Army wrote on X in a short statement, its first since the operation’s launch. “Jai Hind!” (Victory to India)
Pakistan’s response: Pakistan’s military claims it has shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft. CNN cannot independently verify the claim. Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said the country “has every right to give a befitting reply to this act of war imposed by India and a befitting reply is being given.” A military spokesperson said the country “will respond to it at a time and place of its own choosing.”
Flashpoint: Kashmir is one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints and is controlled in part by India and Pakistan but both countries claim it in its entirety. The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over the mountainous territory that is now divided by a de-facto border called the Line of Control (LOC) since their independence from Britain nearly 80 years ago.
Pakistan has called India’s strikes an “unprovoked and blatant act of war” in a statement early Wednesday.
“The Indian Air Force, while remaining within Indian airspace, has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Muridke and Bahawalpur, and across Line of Control in Kotli and Muzaffarabad,” a statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
“India’s act of aggression has resulted in martyrdom of civilians, including women and children. This act of aggression has also caused grave threat to commercial air traffic.”
India early Wednesday said it launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, in a major escalation between the two neighbors.
The attacks come more than two weeks after a massacre on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on its neighbor — a claim Islamabad denies.
Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said the country “has every right to give a befitting reply to this act of war imposed by India and a befitting reply is being given.”
“The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani Armed Forces know how to deal with the enemy very well,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. “The enemy will never be allowed to succeed in his nefarious objectives.”
The prime minister called a meeting with the National Security Committee following the military operation, according to the Federal Minister of Information.
Pakistani military sources told CNN that India’s strikes hit five locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The locations are Kotli, Ahmadpur East, Muzaffarabad, Bagh, and Muridke.
Of these, Ahmadpur East and Muridke are particularly significant as they are in Pakistan’s Punjab province – inside the country’s undisputed borders.
Wednesday’s attacks are the first time since 2019 that India has conducted strikes inside Pakistan’s territory, when Indian jets targeted multiple locations after it blamed Islamabad for a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in the region.
That retaliation itself was particularly fraught because it was the first time India had struck inside Pakistan’s undisputed borders since the two sides fought a war in 1971.
India has now taken that significant step again.
Kotli, Muzaffarabad and Bagh are in Pakistan-administered Kashmir – a mountainous, contested region controlled by Islamabad but also claimed by India. It is an area that has seen frequent periods of military contact and skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops.
United States President Donald Trump called India’s confirmed military operation against Pakistan “a shame” and that he just learned of the news ahead of his Oval Office event Tuesday evening.
“It’s a shame. We just heard about it, just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval, just heard about it. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past, they’ve been fighting for a long time, you know, they’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries,” the president said after overseeing the swearing-in ceremony for his special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
“I just hope it ends very quickly,” Trump said.
India said early Wednesday it had launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan administered-Kashmir, in a major escalation between the two countries.
The US State Department also said it is “closely monitoring developments,” according to a spokesperson Tuesday.
“We are aware of the reports, however we have no assessment to offer at this time,” the spokesperson said. “This remains an evolving situation, and we are closely monitoring developments.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with top officials from both countries last week as tensions rapidly escalated after a massacre in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Rubio encouraged India and Pakistan to work with each other to “de-escalate tensions,” according to State Department readouts of the two calls on April 30.
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that “civilians were killed, including women and children” in India’s military operation.
“India is claiming it attacked terrorist camps; this is not true, international media can visit the places civilians were targeted,” Asif said in a statement.
The Indian Army on Wednesday released its first public comments since India launched a military operation inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
“Justice is Served,” the Indian Army wrote on X in a short statement. “Jai Hind!” (Victory to India)
Kashmir has been a flashpoint in India-Pakistan relations since both gained their independence from Britain in 1947.
The two nations to emerge from the bloody partition of British India both claim Kashmir in full, and months after becoming independent, fought their first of three wars over the territory.
The divided region is now one of the most militarized places in the world.
For decades, several domestic militant groups, demanding either independence for Kashmir or for the area to become part of Pakistan, have fought Indian security forces, leaving tens of thousands killed in the violence.
But attacks on tourists in the picturesque Himalayan region are rare.
Tensions between India Pakistan over Kashmir have surged in recent years, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked its constitutional autonomy in 2019, bringing it under the direct control of New Delhi.
India said early Wednesday it had launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan administered-Kashmir, in a major escalation of tensions between the two neighbors and in response to an attack on tourists in India-administered Kashmir on April 22.
Here’s what you need to know about the attack:
What happened: Gunmen opened fire on tourists in a popular travel destination in the mountainous destination of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. At least 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national were killed in the massacre, which unfolded in a valley only accessible by foot or on horseback. Eyewitnesses described scenes of horror as the gunmen approached, opening fire on people from close range. Some recalled how the men among the group were singled out and shot at. Other survivors told local media the gunmen accused some of the victims of supporting Prime Minister Modi.
Who claimed responsibility: Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front (TRF), claimed responsibility for the attack on social media but it has reportedly since walked back that claim, according to multiple local media reports. Pakistan has denied involvement. India has not publicly blamed any group for the attack but has justified its retaliatory moves as a response to Pakistan’s alleged “support for cross-border terrorism.”
Some background: India has long accused Pakistan of harboring Islamist militant groups that target Kashmir, something Islamabad denies. Attacks by militants have in the past led to a sharp escalation of tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, both of whom have rival claims to the Himalayan region. India conducted air strikes inside Pakistan in 2019 following an insurgent attack on Indian soldiers.
Three people, including a child, have been killed by Indian strikes in Pakistan, the country’s military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Pakistani outlet Geo TV.
Chaudhry also told Geo TV that mosques were targeted.
“The attacks on mosques indicate [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi and RSS’s Hindutva mentality,” Chaudhry said referring to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing paramilitary organization that advocates Hindu supremacy within India.
Kashmir, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, is controlled in part by India and Pakistan but both countries claim it in its entirety.
The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over the mountainous territory that is now divided by a de-facto border called the Line of Control (LOC) since their independence from Britain nearly 80 years ago.
Tensions ratcheted up again after gunmen massacred 26 civilians in Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir on last month, the deadliest assault on Indians in recent years.
India has accused Pakistan of being involved in the Pahalgam attack — a claim Islamabad denies. Pakistan has offered a neutral investigation into the incident.
The massacre sparked immediate widespread anger in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been under tremendous pressure to retaliate with force.
In the days after the Pahalgam attack, both countries swiftly downgraded ties with each other and have been since been engaging in escalating tit-for-tat hostilities.
India ordered its citizens to return from Pakistan, shut a major border crossing and suspended its involvement in a crucial water sharing treaty that has been in force since 1960.
Pakistan suspended trade with India and expelled Indian diplomats. It said that that any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan would be considered an “act of war.”
Both countries have also shut their airspace to each other.
New Delhi and Islamabad had also been flexing their military might as tensions simmered along the LOC with small exchanges of fire across the demarcation in recent days. Both sides have also closed their air spaces to each other’s airlines.
Pakistan’s military said India struck early Wednesday with missiles.
“Pakistan will respond to it at a time and place of its own choosing,” Pakistani military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Geo TV. “This heinous provocation will not go unanswered.”
Pakistani military sources told CNN five locations were struck at Kotli, Ahmadpur East, Muzaffarabad, Bagh, and Muridke.
Three of those locations – Kotli, Muzaffarabad and Bagh – are in Pakistan-administred Kashmir. Ahmadpur East and Muridke are both in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
India said early Wednesday (local time) it had launched a military operation against Pakistan, hitting “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan administered-Kashmir, in a major escalation of tensions between the two neighbors.
“These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered,” India’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement, referring to an attack last month tourists in India-administered Kashmir.
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the statement added.
India said nine sites in total were targeted.
Multiple loud explosions have been heard in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to a CNN journalist.
Pakistan’s military said India had struck with missiles.
“Pakistan will respond to it at a time and place of its own choosing,” Pakistani military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Geo TV. “This heinous provocation will not go unanswered.”
Prior to Wednesday’s military operation, multiple major airlines were avoiding flying over Pakistan as relations with neighboring India crater.
Air France told CNN it has suspended flying over the South Asian country until further notice because of the “recent evolution of tensions between India and Pakistan.”
The airline is “adapting its flight schedule and flight plans to and from certain destinations,” the French flag carrier said, adding some routes will require longer flight times.
“Air France is constantly monitoring developments in the geopolitical situation of the territories served and overflown by its aircraft in order to ensure the highest level of flight safety and security,” the airline said.
Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa also confirmed to Reuters that it was “avoiding Pakistani airspace until further notice.”
Both sides had already closed their airspaces to each other’s aircraft since the attack, but the increased tensions are now impacting other international airlines and will likely cost them as they burn extra fuel taking longer routes.
Flight-tracking data showed some flights of British Airways, Swiss International Air Lines and Emirates traveling over the Arabian Sea and then turning north toward Delhi in order to avoid Pakistani airspace, Reuters reported.
By the numbers, India’s military would be seen as superior to Pakistan’s in any conventional conflict.
The Indian defense budget is more than nine times Pakistan’s, according to this year’s edition of “The Military Balance,” an assessment of armed forces by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
That budget supports an active-duty Indian force of almost 1.5 million personnel, compared to 660,000 for Pakistan.
On the ground, India’s 1.2 million-strong army has 3,750 main battle tanks and more than 10,000 artillery pieces, while Pakistan’s tank force is only two-thirds of India’s and Islamabad has fewer than half of the artillery pieces in New Delhi’s arsenal.
At sea, the Indian navy’s advantage is overwhelming. It has two aircraft carriers, 12 guided-missile destroyers, 11 guided-missile frigates and 16 attack submarines.
Pakistan has no carriers and no guided-missile destroyers, with 11 smaller guided-missile frigates being the backbone of its naval fleet. It also has only half the number of subs that India fields.
Both air forces rely heavily on older Soviet-era aircraft, including MiG-21s in India and the Chinese equivalent – the J-7 – in Pakistan.
India has been investing in multirole French-made Rafale jets, with 36 now in service, according to “The Military Balance.”
Pakistan has added Chinese J-10 multirole jets, with more than 20 now in its fleet.
Though Pakistan still has dozens of US-made F-16 fighters, the backbone of its fleet has become the JF-17, a joint project with China that came online in the early 2000s. About 150 are in service.
Russian-made aircraft play a significant role in India’s air fleet, with more than 100 MiG-29 fighters in service with the air force and navy combined, plus over 260 Su-30 ground attack jets.
The rivals are closer in capabilities when it comes to nuclear forces, with around five dozen surface-to-surface launchers each, though Indian has longer-range ballistic missiles than Pakistan.
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