Pakistan's leader vows to avenge India's strikes, calling them an "act of war"
What led up to latest escalation between India and Pakistan
Islamabad — India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, killing at least 26 people including a child, in what Pakistan's leader called an act of war.
India said it struck infrastructure used by militants linked to last month's massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Pakistan said it had shot down several Indian fighter jets in retaliation as three 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.
People look at a part of an unidentified aircraft in Wuyan near Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on May 7, 2025.
Firdous Nazir / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Tension has soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since an attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, at a popular meadow in the disputed territory of Kashmir, in some cases killing men before their wives' eyes.
India has blamed Pakistan for backing the attack, something Islamabad has denied.
Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries but claimed in its entirety by each, has been at the center of tensions for decades and they have fought two wars over it.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday's airstrikes and said his country would retaliate.
"Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given," Sharif said.
The country's National Security Committee met Wednesday morning, and Pakistan summoned India's charge d'affaires to lodge a protest.
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
A source told the Reuters news agency Modi postponed a trip to Croatia, the Netherlands and Norway.
Girls whose relatives say were injured in a cross border shelling receive treatment in a hospital in India-administered Kashmir's Uri on May 7, 2025.
Stringer / REUTERS
Concern mounts
South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said it was one the highest-intensity strikes from India on its rival in years and that Pakistan's response would "surely pack a punch as well."
"These are two strong militaries that, even with nuclear weapons as a deterrent, are not afraid to deploy sizeable levels of conventional military force against each other," Kugelman said. "The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly."
Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement late Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint because the world could not "afford a military confrontation" between India and Pakistan.
Several Indian states planned civil defense drills later Wednesday, according to India's home ministry, to train civilians and security personnel to respond in case of any "hostile attacks," the ministry said in a statement. Such drills in India are rare in non-crisis times.
Students take part in an emergency mock drill as part of the nationwide civil defence mock drill at a school in New Delhi on May 7, 2025, as border tensions surged.
ARUN SANKAR / AFP via Getty Images
Indian politicians from different political parties lauded the strikes. "Victory to Mother India," India's defense minister, Rajnath Singh, wrote on X.
India's main opposition Congress party called for national unity and said it was "extremely proud" of the country's army. "We applaud their resolute resolve and courage," Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
Details on the military action
India's army said the operation was named "Sindoor," a Hindi word for the bright red vermillion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair, referring to the women whose husbands were killed in front of them.
India's missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country's eastern Punjab province, killing at least 26 people including women and children, said Pakistan's military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif.
Officials said another 38 people were injured by the strikes, and another five people were killed in Pakistan during exchanges of fire across the border later in the day.
Sharif said the Indian jets also damaged infrastructure at a dam in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, calling it a violation of international norms.
India's Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites "where terrorist attacks against India have been planned."
"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."
Pakistan said the strikes hit at least two sites previously tied to banned militant groups.
One hit the Subhan Mosque in Punjab's Bahawalpur city, killing 13 people including a child, according to Zohaib Ahmed, a doctor at a nearby hospital.
The mosque is near a seminary that was once the central office of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group outlawed in 2002. Officials say the group has had no operational presence at the site since the ban.
In a statement obtained by CBS News, Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, claimed India's attack killed 10 of his family members and four close associates. He criticized Modi, saying, "This cruelty has broken all limits—do not expect mercy anymore."
Another missile hit a mosque in Muridke, damaging its structure. A sprawling building located nearby served as the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba until 2013, when Pakistan banned the group and arrested its founder.
Last month's attack on tourists was claimed by a group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance, which India says is also known as The Resistance Front and is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad said he heard several explosions as the blast ripped through houses. He saw people running in panic and authorities immediately cut power to the area.
People took refuge on the streets and in open areas, fearful of what might happen. "We were afraid the next missile might hit our house," said Mohammad Ashraf.
Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool, who lives near the mosque, told CBS News, "We were just about to go to bed when a huge blast happened. It was very big and terrifying explosions."
Along the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there were heavy exchanges of fire.
The Indian police and medics said seven civilians were killed and 30 wounded by Pakistani shelling in Poonch district near the highly militarized Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries. Officials said several homes also were damaged in the shelling.
The Indian army said Pakistani troops "resorted to arbitrary firing," including gunfire and artillery shelling, across the frontier.
Shortly after India's strikes, aircraft fell onto three villages in India-controlled Kashmir.
Sharif, the Pakistani military spokesperson, said the country's air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation for the strikes. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan's claim.
Debris from a plane was scattered across Wuyan village in the outskirts of the region's main city, including in a school and a mosque compound, according to Srinagar police and residents. Firefighters struggled for hours to douse the resulting fires.
"There was a huge fire in the sky. Then we heard several blasts also," said Mohammed Yousuf Dar, a Wuyan resident.
Another aircraft fell in an open field in Bhardha Kalan village, near the Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Village resident Sachin Kumar told The Associated Press he heard massive blasts followed by a huge ball of fire.
Kumar said he and and several other villagers rushed to the scene and found two pilots with injuries. Both were later taken away by the Indian army.
A third aircraft crashed in a farm field in India's northern Punjab state, a police office told the AP, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The officer did not provide further details.
Other nations reacting
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Trump called the strikes "a shame."
"We just heard about it just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval," Mr. Trump said. "I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They've been fighting for a long time. You know, they've been fighting for many many decades, and centuries actually, if you really think about it. No, I just hope it ends very quickly."
China called for restraint from both sides following India's strikes.
"China expresses regret over India's military actions this morning and is concerned about the current developments. China opposes all forms of terrorism," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement. "We call on both India and Pakistan to prioritize peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the situation."
Beijing is the largest investor in Pakistan by far, with a $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project that spans across the country. China meanwhile also has multiple border claims disputed with India, with one of those claims in the northeastern part of the Kashmir region.
French news agency AFP reports that British Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio Wednesday the UK is "a friend, a partner to both countries. We stand ready to support both countries. Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation and anything we can do to support that, we are here and willing to do."
Moscow on Wednesday called for both India and Pakistan to show "restraint," AFP says.
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Shinde said "there was nothing" in Solapur in 2008 and that residents who received land payments had no reason to oppose the plant. Researcher Shripad Dharmadhikary, who founded environment advocacy group Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, said local politicians often supported splashy infrastructure projects to boost their popularity. Any "problems come up much later," he said. Even before the Solapur plant started operating, there were signs of the trouble to come. The first of its two units was supposed to start generating power by the middle of 2016, but it was delayed by more than 12 months because of years of severe water shortages, according to a 2020 regulatory filing. The absence of nearby water resources meant the station ended up drawing on water from a reservoir about 120 km away. Such distances can sharply increase costs and the risk of water theft, said Dharmadhikary and two plant sources. 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Dharmes Waghmore owns farmland a few miles from the plant and said that developing it would provide more financial security than his current casual work. But he said borrowing money to develop the land by drilling a bore well is too risky: "What if there's no water?" Kuladeep Jangam, a top local official, said authorities were struggling to draw businesses to Solapur. The lack of "water neutralizes all other pull factors," he said. THIRST FOR WATER Since 2014, India has lost 60.33 billion units of coal-power generation across the country - equivalent to 19 days of coal-power supply at June 2025 levels - because water shortages force plants to suspend generation, according to federal data. Among the facilities that have struggled with shortages is the 2,920 MW Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station, one of India's largest. Located about 500 km northeast of Solapur but also in a water-stressed area, the plant shuts several of its units for months at a time when the monsoon delivers less rain than usual, according to NITI Aayog data. Despite the challenges, the plant is considering adding 800 MW of new capacity, according to the power ministry list seen by Reuters and half a dozen sources at Mahagenco, which operates the station. The document indicates the plant hasn't identified a water source for the expansion, though it has already sourced its coal. State-owned Mahagenco did not respond to Reuters' questions. The plant's thirst for water has previously led to tensions with residents of nearby Chandrapur city. Locals protested the station during a 2017 drought, prompting officials such as local lawmaker Sudhir Mungantiwar to order it to divert water to homes. Mungantiwar, however, says he supports the expansion of the plant, which he hopes will lead to it retiring water-inefficient older units. But the station has already delayed a plan to decommission two polluting and water-guzzling power units with a capacity of 420 MW by about seven years, citing instructions from the federal government, the company sources said. The Indian government asked power companies not to retire old thermal plants until the end of the decade due to a surge in demand following the pandemic, Reuters has reported. Chandrapur resident Anjali, who goes by one name, said she is resigned to visiting a tap installed by the station near one of its gates for drinking water. "We're poor, we make do with whatever we can get," she said. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
