Pakistan Launches Counterattack on India
Pakistan launched a retaliatory counterattack against India early on Saturday morning, targeting multiple military bases in India.
Islamabad accused New Delhi of targeting three of its military bases with missiles, while world powers have ramped up diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions as the fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbors intensifies, raising fears of a fully-fledged war. Pakistan Counterattack
Early on Saturday, Islamabad announced it had begun retaliation strikes in response to Delhi's targeting of three military bases with missiles fired from fighter jets, which Pakistani air defenses intercepted most of them, reported Reuters.
The Pakistani military spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said that India had targeted Pakistan's Nur Khan, Murid and Shorkot air bases with six air-to-surface missiles.
OPERATION BUNYAN UN MARSOOS UPDATE
آپریشن بُنْيَانٌ مَّرْصُوْص (آہنی دیوار)اپڈیٹ
Video of BrahMos storage site destruction goes viral
The Brahmos storage site can be seen being destroyed in the video. pic.twitter.com/0f0iRR3cco
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) May 10, 2025
Later, Pakistan announced it had launched 'Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos' (a firm united structure) against India, according to Radio Pakistan. The retaliatory strikes targeted Indian military sites and bases, including BrahMos missile storage site in the Indian state of Punjab and Udhampur airbase in Indian-administered Kashmir. Nuclear Saber-rattling
After launching the counterattack, the Pakistani military said that the Prime Minister had summoned a meeting of the National Command Authority, a body that comprises top civilian and military officials and oversees decisions related to Islamabad's nuclear arsenal, according to Reuters.
Furthermore, Pakistan's Planning Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, said: 'We would hate to see that (nuclear) threshold being breached,' adding that the escalation was a 'test for the international community.'
Analysts see the meeting of Pakistan's top nuclear body as a concerning escalation. Senior Fellow for South Asia at the Stimson Center, Asfandyar Mir, said: 'It is a soft nuclear signal but also well in line with Pakistan's nuclear doctrine of first use and realistically reflective of where we are on the escalation ladder – which is pretty high up, after multiple duels between both sides, and also lacking in precedent.'
However, the Pakistani Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, later denied reports about the nuclear body meeting. 'This thing that you have spoken about (nuclear option) is present, but let's not talk about it – we should treat it as a very distant possibility, we shouldn't even discuss it in the immediate context,' he told ARY TV.
'Before we get to that point, I think temperatures will come down. No meeting has happened of the National Command Authority, nor is any such meeting scheduled,' Asif added. India's Response
On its part, the Indian military described Pakistan's attacks as 'blatant escalation,' adding that that its 'enemy designs' would be thwarted. The Indian military also said that defense units destroyed multiple armed drones that were flying over the holy city of Amritsar in India's Punjab state.
According to the regional police, the Pakistani attacks killed five civilians in the Jammu region of Indian Kashmir. Calls for De-escalation
The ongoing escalation between India and Pakistan has raised alarm across the world, fearing that they could resort to nuclear weapons. Hence, world powers are intensifying diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and avoid an all-out war in the region.
Saudi Arabia is making diplomatic efforts to de-escalate India-Pakistan tensions. The Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al-Jubeir, visited India and Pakistan on May 8-9, 2025, as part of the Kingdom's efforts to end the ongoing military confrontations and resolve disputes through dialogue, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The US State Secretary, Marco Rubio, called Pakistan's Army Chief, Asim Munir, on Friday morning, offering assistance in holding talks to avoid conflict escalation. He has also been in contact with Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and Indian Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, since the end of April.
'He continued to urge both parties to find ways to de-escalate and offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts,' State Department Spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said.
Similarly, G7 countries urged maximum restraint and called for direct dialogue between both countries. 'We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome,' the group said in a statement.
Moreover, China urged both India and Pakistan to avoid escalation. 'We strongly call on both India and Pakistan to give priority to peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means and avoid taking actions that further escalate tensions,' the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Kashmir Attack
The ongoing clashes between the two South Asian neighbors started after a deadly attack on April 22 killed 26 tourists in the Indian-administered Kashmir, which Delhi linked to Islamabad. Relations between the two countries rapidly deteriorated, with each taking retaliatory measures against the other.
On Wednesday, India launched missile strikes against 9 sites in Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, in retaliation for the Kashmir attack. Since then, the two countries engaged in cross-border fire and shelling, and sent drones and missiles into each other's airspace.
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