LAST UPDATE | 6 May 2025

INDIAN MISSILES HAVE struck a number of sites in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir in a major escalation following weeks of rising tensions and cross-border gunfire exchanges between the two nuclear-armed nations.

India has since said that Pakistan opened artillery fire across the dividing line in the Kashmir region, which follows promises of a response from Pakistan. 

At least three civilians, including a child, were killed by the missiles, Pakistan’s Minister of Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif told the AFP news agency.

“They have targeted multiple locations, which all are civilian… We have confirmed reports of three civilians killed that includes one child,” Asif said.

India has said it targeted “terrorist” camps. 

State-run Pakistan Television, quoting security officials, said Pakistan’s air force shot down two Indian jets but provided no additional details.

The missile attack comes days after India accused Pakistan of being behind a deadly terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir that left 26 people dead. 

The Indian armed forces said that nine sites across Pakistan and the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir region were hit by “precision strikes” as part of ‘Operation Sindoor’.

According to a statement from the Indian ministry of defence, Indian forces targeted “terrorist infrastructure” from where “terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution”.

“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” the defence ministry added.

In a post shared on social media, an official Indian armed forces account said: “Justice is served”.

The Pakistani army confirmed this evening that India carried out “air strikes” in three regions of Pakistan, citing two towns in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and a third in the Pakistani province of Punjab, which borders India.

One of the missiles struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed, and a woman and man were injured, one official said.

The officials said Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes, without providing any details. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media on the record.

Pakistani army spokesman, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif, told ARY News that the missiles were launched from within Indian territory and that no Indian aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace.

“This was a cowardly attack targeting innocent civilians under the cover of darkness,” Sharif told the broadcaster.

“Pakistan will respond to (India’s attacks) at a time and place of its own choosing,” said Sharif, calling the air strikes a “heinous provocation.”

Today’s strikes came just hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that water flowing across India’s borders would be stopped. Pakistan had warned that tampering with the rivers that flow from India into its territory would be an “act of war.”

“India’s water used to go outside, now it will flow for India,” Modi said in a speech in New Delhi.

Asked for his reaction to the news of the strikes, US President Donald Trump said he hopes it ends “very quickly”. 

Additional reporting from PA, AFP and David Mac Redmond