26 people including a child, were killed after India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, in what Pakistan’s leader called an act of war, reports AP.
India said it struck infrastructure used by terror linked group that massacred over 26 tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir last month.
Also, Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian fighter jets in retaliation as two planes fell onto villages in India-controlled Kashmir.
At least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, Indian police and medics said.
The strikes came amid soaring tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors after India blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the strikes hit Muridke and Bahawalpur, and across the Line of Control in Kotli and Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
One of them struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed, and a woman and man were injured, one official told The Associated Press.
“India’s act of aggression has resulted in martyrdom of civilians, including women and children,” the spokesman said. “This act of aggression has also caused grave threat to commercial air traffic.”
According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations division of the Pakistan Armed Forces, the missiles were air-launched. Witnesses in Bahawalpur reported seeing a bright light in the sky moments before a powerful explosion.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed attacks on five locations, labeling them an act of cowardice.
“Pakistan has the right to fully respond to the Indian-imposed military action, and a befitting response is being given,” Sharif said. “The entire nation stands with the Pakistani armed forces.”
Residents in Muzaffarabad said they heard multiple loud explosions after midnight, followed by a complete power blackout across the area.
“We were just about to go to bed when a huge blast happened, it was very big and terrifying explosions,” Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool, a resident living near the mosque, told CBS News.
Post Views: 16
