ISLAMABAD (Realist English). Pakistan has accused India of committing an “act of war” following a series of missile strikes that hit at least nine sites across Pakistani territory, killing eight people and injuring 35 others. Among the dead was a child, and the strikes reportedly targeted a mosque in Bahawalpur and civilian infrastructure in Kotli, located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, declaring:
“Pakistan has every right to respond with strength. We will not allow the enemy to achieve its objectives.”
The Pakistani military claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force jets, while New Delhi stated that the strikes were “surgical” and aimed at “terrorist infrastructure” — a response to an April attack on Hindu tourists in Kashmir, which India blamed on Pakistan without presenting evidence.
The situation along the Line of Control (LoC) rapidly deteriorated. Artillery exchanges resumed overnight, with Indian sources confirming the deaths of three civilians and injuries to five others.
Pakistan’s military confirmed that the missile strikes originated from Indian territory without violating Pakistani airspace, though Islamabad said the attacks endangered civilian aviation. Multiple commercial airlines have since canceled flights over northern India and Pakistan due to security concerns.
The escalation came just hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to block water flow into Pakistan, signaling a potential withdrawal from the Indus Waters Treaty, a decades-old accord governing shared river resources. Islamabad condemned the move as another hostile act.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors have been rising sharply since April 24, with nightly cross-border shelling in Kashmir. The international community has expressed growing alarm. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for immediate de-escalation, stating that “the world cannot afford a military conflict between India and Pakistan.”
