Pakistan authorities said that 26 people were killed in airstrikes launched by India targeting terrorists in several areas of Pakistan-controlled territory on May 7, including the divided Kashmir region.
That statement came around 4:45 p.m. ET on May 6, though it was the early morning hours in India when the military action began.
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” it said. “No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.”
These strikes hit several locations across Pakistan. Since then, the fighting has expanded, with shelling along the border and reported aerial battles increasing the casualty count.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif, the Pakistani military’s spokesperson, said at least 31 civilians had been killed since the fighting began. 26 of those were killed in the initial Indian missile strikes, Sharif said, while the other five were killed along the Line of Control from shelling.
One of the places reportedly struck in the initial strike was a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab. Pakistani officials said that 13 were killed in the strike, including women and children.
In response, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a national security committee meeting, and called India’s air strike an act of war.
“Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,” he said in a statement.
“The Pakistani nation and the Pakistan Armed Forces know very well how to deal with the enemy,” he said. “We will never let the enemy succeed in its nefarious objectives.”
Shortly after that statement, the Indian army released a statement saying that Pakistan had fired artillery into India-controlled Kashmir, stating that Indian forces were “responding appropriately in a calibrated manner.”
By around 1 a.m. ET, Indian police said at least seven civilians had been killed and 30 others wounded in the Pakistani firing and shelling, including at least one woman.
Around 1:30 a.m., Sharif announced that Pakistan’s air force had shot down five Indian fighter jets.
“Pakistan is responding to the Indian aggression,” he said.
India’s embassy in the United States announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been briefed on the situation.
In a statement, the embassy said that India’s actions “were measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani civilian, economic or military targets have been hit. Only known terror camps were targeted.”
This action came amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries after 26 male tourists were killed in a terrorist attack in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir in April. India has blamed Pakistan for backing the attack, which Pakistani authorities have denied, and vowed to respond.
According to Reuters, Pakistan said that it had intelligence saying India was planning to attack.
Rubio called Sharif and India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on April 30 to urge the two nations to de-escalate tensions in Kashmir.
“He also encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia.”
After the strike, the Indian army said in a post on X, “Justice is served.”
The escalating conflict has also drawn the attention of the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who, according U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, is calling for restraint.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the statement read.
