India has launched a series of coordinated missile and air strikes on Pakistani territory and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in a significant military operation dubbed Operation Sindoor, igniting fears of a wider conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
According to Indian military officials, the strikes were carried out in the early hours of May 6, targeting nine locations identified as hubs of terrorist activity.
India says the action was in direct retaliation for a deadly attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 Hindu tourists were killed in a bombing attributed to the Resistance Front, an alleged offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba group.
“These strikes were precision operations aimed at dismantling terrorist infrastructure. India will not tolerate cross-border terrorism,” a senior Indian defence official told reporters in New Delhi.
The Pakistani government, however, has condemned the strikes as an “unprovoked act of war” and claims that the attacks resulted in the deaths of civilians, including women and children.
Islamabad reported damage to several buildings and mosques and said its air defences downed multiple Indian fighter jets—a claim New Delhi has yet to confirm or deny.
In a swift response, Pakistani forces shelled several Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in casualties on both sides. At least six civilians were reported killed in Indian-administered Kashmir following the exchange of fire.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee, warning that “any further aggression will be met with full force.” India, meanwhile, has placed its military on high alert along the western border.
International reactions have been swift, with the United Nations, United States, and European Union urging both countries to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.
The last major military confrontation between India and Pakistan occurred in 2019 following the Pulwama attack, but analysts say the current situation is even more volatile, given the civilian death toll and mutual accusations of state-sponsored terrorism.
As tension mounts in South Asia, global attention is once again focused on the fragile peace between two of the world’s most powerful militaries, each armed with nuclear capabilities and a long history of conflict over the disputed Kashmir region.
