Aletho News

India hits Pakistan with ballistic missiles, Islamabad vows response

Press TV – May 6, 2025

India reports attacking nine sites in Pakistan and the Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid rising tensions between the countries following a terrorist attack in the Indian-administered Kashmir.

The Indian ministry of defense announced the strikes in a statement on Wednesday, saying they had hit the targets “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” describing the attacks as “Operation Sindoor.”

The statement said the ministry would release detailed briefing of the operation later in the day.

A Pakistani military spokesman told broadcaster Geo that sites struck by India included two mosques.

Both sides’ armies, meanwhile, reportedly exchanged heavy shelling and gunfire across the border between the Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Indian-administered Kashmir in at least three places.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad was mounting a response, but did not provide details.

Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, reported a blackout, while the eastern Pakistani border province of Punjab declared an emergency and put hospitals and emergency services on high alert.

Pakistan reports casualties

Pakistan said India had launched missiles towards three Pakistani regions, although New Delhi is yet to identify the nature of the deployed ammunition.

Islamabad also said at least three people had been killed and 12 others injured, according to an initial assessment.

The Pakistani military’s Inter-Services Public Relations said one of the fatalities was a child.

Sharif also condemned India’s attacks, and vowed that Islamabad would respond forcefully.

“The enemy has once again shown its deceitful nature,” he said, according to Geo.

The country had, on several occasions, announced recently that it had “credible information” pointing to pending Indian attacks, and vowed to retaliate accordingly.

India: Attacks were ‘surgical but non-escalatory’

The Indian ministry described the operations as “precision strikes at terrorist camps” and “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

It, however, said, “Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature.”

“No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.”

Pakistan: Targets were ‘civilian’

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, however, told Geo that all sites targeted by India were “civilian” and not terrorist camps.

He said India had fired missiles from its own airspace and the latter’s assertion of targeting “camps of terrorists is false.”

The developments follow the terror attack in the town of Pahalgam in the Indian-administered Kashmir that claimed the lives of at least 26 tourists on April 22, 2025.

The Indian defense ministry statement asserted that Operation Sindoor had come in the wake of the “barbaric” Pahalgam terrorist attack, identifying the fatalities as 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen.

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

Pakistan has rejected any role. Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had most recently rejected, what he called, India’s narrative regarding ongoing issues, and said that New Delhi was facing “diplomatic embarrassment on the global stage.”

Conflict over water

After the terrorist indecent, both countries began taking tit-for-tat measures.

India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, a water-sharing agreement mediated by the World Bank and signed in 1960, and closed the Wagah-Attari border crossing.

​On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said water from the country that once flowed across borders would be stopped.

“India’s water used to go outside, now it will flow for India,” he said in a speech in New Delhi, adding, “India’s water will be stopped for India’s interests, and it will be utilized for India.”

Pakistan has described India’s measures as tampering with its rivers that would be considered “an act of war.”

For its part, Islamabad has suspended visas issued to Indian nationals, closed its airspace to Indian airlines, and test-fired several long-range missiles.

May 6, 2025 - Posted by aletho | Militarism | India, Pakistan