India launches ‘Operation Sindoor’, missiles hit a number of websites in Pakistan | Information

India’s navy says it launched “Operation Sindoor“, placing 9 websites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, after which Islamabad stated it had retaliated by placing Indian navy targets, together with downing a number of warplanes.

The Indian strike and counterattack by Pakistan come amid hovering tensions between the 2 nuclear-armed neighbours after a lethal assault final month on vacationers in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, which denied any involvement.

India’s authorities stated in an announcement early on Wednesday that its navy had attacked “terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from the place terrorist assaults in opposition to India have been deliberate and directed”.

“Our actions have been targeted, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani navy amenities have been focused. India has demonstrated appreciable restraint in number of targets and methodology of execution,” it stated.

Pakistani officers stated at the least eight individuals have been killed and greater than 35 injured in India’s assaults. The missiles struck places in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the nation’s jap Punjab province.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, stated the cities of Muzaffarabad and Kotli, each in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, have been among the many targets of the Indian strikes.

“Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, chatting with a overseas TV community, confirmed that at the least 5 Indian plane have been shot down and that various Indian troopers have been taken prisoner,” Hyder stated.

“Pakistan stated that it could reply to any Indian assault in opposition to Pakistan, and Pakistan is now responding to that Indian assault,” he stated.

“Heavy shelling has now resumed on the Line of Management that separates Pakistan-administered Kashmir from Indian-administered Kashmir,” he added.

A Pakistani navy spokesman had earlier instructed the broadcaster Geo that at the least 5 places, together with two mosques, had been hit. He had additionally stated that Pakistan’s response was beneath means, with out offering particulars.

In Punjab, missiles hit a mosque within the metropolis of Bahawalpur, killing a toddler and wounding two civilians, the navy stated.

Kashmir tensions escalate

Following India’s assaults, the armies of the 2 sides exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire throughout their frontier in disputed Kashmir in at the least three locations, the Reuters information company reported, citing police and witnesses.

United Nations Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres referred to as for optimum restraint from either side.

“The secretary-general could be very involved in regards to the Indian navy operations throughout the Line of Management and worldwide border. He calls for optimum navy restraint from each international locations,” the spokesperson stated.

“The world can’t afford a navy confrontation between India and Pakistan.”

United States President Donald Trump stated the clashes have been “a disgrace”.

“I simply hope it ends in a short time,” Trump stated on the White Home.

The eruption of violence comes amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours within the aftermath of an assault on vacationers in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir final month.

India blamed Pakistan for the violence, through which 26 males have been killed, and promised to reply. Pakistan denied that it had something to do with the killings.

Nitasha Kaul, the director of the Centre for the Research of Democracy, stated the strikes are “very regarding”.

“As soon as once more, the worst affected are going to be the individuals within the area, the Kashmiris, who’re caught between the competing and proprietorial and rival postures and attitudes of India and Pakistan,” Kaul instructed Al Jazeera.

Nonetheless, she stated, the escalation is “not that shocking, as a result of inside India … there was a home strain build up for a extra militarist response, given the actual fact that there’s a significantly hyper-nationalist authorities in energy.

“In that sense, sadly, this was a countdown to a better escalation, and hopefully it gained’t proceed a lot additional past what has already occurred with these strikes,” Kaul added.