India strikes Pakistan as tensions mount in Kashmir

What happened

India launched missiles at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir Tuesday night, killing at least 26 people and drawing retaliatory fire. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the strikes targeted "terrorist infrastructure" used to plan the deadly April 22 attack on tourists in India-controlled Kashmir and alleged future terrorist plots. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it an "act of war."

Who said what

The two nuclear-armed neighbors "have inched closer to conflict" since last month's terrorist attack, exchanging "small-arms fire across the Kashmir border" despite "diplomatic efforts" to "lessen tensions" now at their "highest point in years," following "years of frosty peace," The Wall Street Journal said. The longtime rivals last came to "the brink" of war over Kashmir in 2019, said The New York Times, but India's overnight strike on Pakistan's Punjab Province represented "an escalation" in the simmering conflict.

World leaders called for restraint and de-escalation. "The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan," said a spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.

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India's Defense Ministry said its strikes were "focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature" and "no Pakistan military facilities" were targeted. "Justice is served," the Indian Army said on X. Sharif said Pakistan had "every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given." Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets and a drone. India said at least 10 civilians were killed by Pakistani shelling.

What next?

India and Pakistan 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," South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman told The Associated Press. "The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly."