In a significant escalation of tensions, India carried out a series of targeted airstrikes on Pakistani locations late Tuesday night, prompting Pakistan to retaliate, downing five Indian jets.
Both India’s Ministry of Defense and Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) have confirmed the strikes.
In a video statement issued around 4:10 a.m., ISPR Director-General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry announced India had struck 6 targets with 24 impacts. The strikes resulted in 8 deaths and 35 injuries, while two people remain unaccounted for. He subsequently said the number of lives lost had risen to 26 civilians across the six localities that India hit, with 46 injured.
Detailing the attacks, he said that 4 of the 6 targeted locations in Bahawalpur, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakargarh were mosques. In Bahwalpur’s Ahmedpur East, 13 lives were lost, including “two to three-year-old girls,” seven women and four men. There were 37 injuries, including nine women and 28 men.
On the attack at Bilal Mosque near Muzaffarabad, the spokesman said “three people were martyred” and a girl and a boy injured. In Kotli, the Abbas Mosque was targeted, leaving a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy dead and injuring a mother and her daughter.
In Muridke, four impacts left 1 dead and 1 injured, while two men were missing.
The strike in Sialkot did not cause any damage or casualties, with one impact hitting an empty field and another failing to detonate. In Shakargarh, the strike caused minor damage to a clinic but no casualties.
White flag
In a press conference around 7 a.m., Information Minister Attaullah Tarar asserted that India had waved a white flag at the Line of Control and “accepted defeat,” as footage of a white flag played in the background. “They have been forced to wave a white flag,” he said, adding “several” posts of the Indian army across the border had been destroyed by the armed forces.
Earlier, India issued a statement describing the strikes as “preemptive” and “precision-based,” aimed at neutralizing “terrorist launchpads” across the Line of Control (LoC) and deeper into Pakistan’s territory. “No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted,” it said of “Operation Sindoor”, claiming the actions were “non-escalatory” in nature.
The operations reportedly began around 11:30 p.m. Pakistani officials have said no incursions occurred. “All of our Air Force jets are airborne. This cowardly and shameful attack was carried out from within India’s airspace,” the military spokesman told ARY News. “They were never allowed to come and intrude into the space of Pakistan,” he stressed. “This temporary happiness that India has achieved with this cowardly attack will be replaced with enduring grief,” he added.
“The cunning enemy has carried out cowardly attacks on five locations in Pakistan,” said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement posted on X. “Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given. The entire nation stands with the Pakistani armed forces, and the morale and spirit of the entire Pakistani nation are high. The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy. We will never allow the enemy to succeed in their nefarious goals,” he added.
Speaking with foreign media around 3 a.m., Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said he would accompany local and foreign journalists to Muridke and Bahawalpur in the morning to “prove” that India had targeted civilians and not “terrorist launchpads.”
Pakistan responds
After India claimed it had targeted nine locations, Lt. Gen. Chaudhry told Geo News around 1:30 a.m. that Pakistan’s retaliatory actions were underway. The military spokesman told media two Indian Air Force jets were subsequently downed, one in Bhatinda and another in Akhnur. State media also reported that Pakistan had “destroyed” an Indian brigade headquarters in Srinagar, India-held Kashmir and destroyed an Indian checkpost alone the LoC. Around 3:40 a.m., state media reported Pakistani forces had shot down a third Indian Air Force jet. The total tally climbed to five by morning, with Indian media confirming three downed jets.
“In an unprovoked and blatant act of war, 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, Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” read a statement issued by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“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,” it continued. “We strongly condemn India’s cowardly action, which is a flagrant violation of the U.N. Charter, international law, and established norms of inter-state relations,” it added.
“In the wake of Pahalgam attack, the Indian leadership has once again used the bogey of terrorism to advance its sham narrative of victimhood, jeopardizing regional peace and security. India’s reckless action has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict,” it warned, noting the situation was still evolving and Pakistan reserved the right to respond at a “time and place of its choosing” as per Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, and as enshrined in international law.
“The government, armed forces and people of Pakistan stand united in the face of Indian aggression. They will always act with iron resolve to protect and preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan,” it added.
Immediately after the attacks, Pakistan shut down its airspace over major cities, including Islamabad and Lahore. In the federal capital, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a late-night emergency meeting with senior military officials. Islamabad was placed on high alert, with hospitals and law enforcement directed to prep for any untoward situation.
This marked the most significant military action by India against Pakistan since the Balakot strikes in 2019. Analysts say this move could push both nations closer to open conflict unless immediate diplomatic interventions are undertaken.
Pahalgam attack
Tensions between India and Pakistan have sharply intensified over the past two weeks following a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed. India swiftly blamed the Jaish-e-Mohammed for orchestrating the attack but has offered no evidence of its allegations. Delhi subsequently halted bilateral talks, revoked cross-border trade permits, and deployed over 30,000 additional troops to the Kashmir Valley. It also announced it was holding the Indus Water Treaty in “abeyance,” prompting backlash from Pakistan.
Pakistan has denied all involvement, calling India’s claims “baseless and inflammatory.” It has offered to cooperate with a neutral probe; an offer that India has yet to respond to. Tonight’s airstrikes signal a major turning point in the standoff, with the international community now urging restraint from both capitals amid growing fears of further escalation. In a brief statement, U.S. President Donald Trump said he “hoped” it would end “quickly.”