The already tense relationship between India and Pakistan, has reached one of its most critical moments in more than 20 years. The Indian army launched an aerial offensive against several positions in Pakistani territory and in the Kashmir administered by Islamabad, where, according to New Delhi, the terrorist attack against his country last month was planned. The bombing has left at least 26 dead, according to Islamabad, 46 wounded and a cascade of cross accusations between two neighbors with nuclear weapons and a territorial conflict entrenched for almost eight decades. The Pakistani prime minister has assured that his country is preparing an answer, but has not given more details.
Nueva Delhi has framed the attack within the so -called Sndoor operation, as retaliation after, in the Indian Kashmir. 26 Hindu tourists were killed in a shooting claimed by the Resistance Front, an insurgent organization linked to the Lashkar-E-Taiba armed group, which India accuses of receiving support from Islamabad. Pakistan, however, denies any involvement.
“India has demonstrated considerable moderation in the selection of objectives and the execution method,” said the Indian Ministry of Defense in a statement. He also specified that nine facilities used as “terrorist infrastructure” have been attacked in Pakistan and in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir “occupied by Pakistan”, where, he insists, “terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. The note ensures that it was a “measure” and “non -provocative” intervention, which deliberately hit Pakistani military facilities.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has described the assault as “a flagrant war act” and has denounced that India has violated its sovereignty “using precision weapons from its own airspace” and “directing the missiles against civilians.”
An Indian military spokesman cited by the Reuters agency said that the Indian forces reached barracks from armed groups Jaish-E-Mohammed and Lashkar-E-Taiba, both linked to previous aggressions in Indian territory. The CNN News-18 Indian chain said that “12 terrorists” have died and that at least 55 people have been injured. After the bombing, the Indian army has written in X: “Justice has been done.”
However, Islamabad argues that there have been six bombed points and all of them civil, including two mosques. Pakistan affirms that Indian missiles have reached three points of the country and that their army has knocked down five Indian fighters, a fact that New Delhi has not pronounced. A Pakistani military spokesman has reported at the Geo station that, in addition to the eight deceased, there are 35 injuries and two missing people.
The climb of tensions has shaken the foundations of the fragile truce signed in 2003 and reaffirmed in 2021. The attack goes beyond aerial reprisal launched by India in 2019, in the Indian Kashmir of control to attack alleged insurgent bases after the death of 18 soldiers in URI. Unlike these actions, the current operation has implied a broader and coordinated offensive with long -range missiles launched from the Indian airspace to achieve objectives outside the basket of Kashmir. It supposes, in practice, a redefinition of the tacit limits that both countries had respected since the signing of Alto El Fuego in 2003, and revives the fear that a spiral of reprisals will be triggered with unpredictable consequences.
The images disseminated by India television showed explosions, smoke columns and panic scenes. Witnesses cited by Reuters have confirmed that in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani Kashmir, there have been cuts of light and have fly over military airplanes. Pakistan has declared the state of emergency in the province of Punyab and has put hospitals on a maximum alert. In the Indian Kashmir, residents and police have reported artillery bombings and air activity along the control line, the de facto border between the two countries.
India has begun to mobilize support and justify its action against key allies. The National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, has contacted the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, while other senior positions have informed their counterparts in the United Kingdom, Russia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, according to diplomatic sources cited by several agencies. The US president, Donald Trump, has described the situation as “a penalty” and said he hopes “ends very soon.” United Nations has asked both parties “the highest level of containment.” The main ally of Pakistan is China, whose president, Xi Jinping, travels on Wednesday to Russia, a key partner of India.
