India on Wednesday has launched an air offensive against alleged terrorist positions in Pakistan and in the back controlled by Islamabad. The operation, baptized as a syndoor, has left at least eight dead, 35 injured and two missing, as detailed by the Pakistani army spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry. One of the 24 attacks has even reached a mosque in the Kotli district, as collected by the Geo TV chain.
The Indian Ministry of Defense has defended the operation as a “calibrated and contained response” to the terrorist attack on April 22 in the tourist town of Pahalgam, which left 26 dead. He has assured that the objectives were infrastructure linked to armed groups, and stressed that he has not bombarded Pakistani military facilities. Nueva Delhi has insisted that it is a precise and without escalation maneuver, although the tension between the two countries has shot.
Pakistan, however, has responded hard. Its armed forces have knocked down five planes and several Indian drones. The information minister, Ataulá Tarar, has assured that they were fully prepared for a scenario like this: “India has received an immediate and firm response,” he said in a press conference.
“This act of aggression will not be unpunished”
The prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has denounced that “the treacherous enemy has launched a cowardly attack against five Pakistan points.” From its official X account he has warned that the country reserves the right to respond with decision. “The whole nation remains united after its armed forces. Our morality and determination remain unwavering,” he said, shortly after summoning the National Security Council.
The president, Asif Ali Zardari, has also raised the tone and has accused India of wanting to “put at risk regional peace and security to boost his political agenda.” In a statement he has labeled the attack of “clear violation of international law” and has promised an “adequate and forceful” response. He has also described as “coward” the action of the Narendra Modi executive, which he accuses of acting with electoral objectives.
In the Kashmiro administered by Pakistan, the Minister of Information, Muhammad Mazhar Saeed Shah, has confirmed the death of at least two people in his region. A security official added that Indian bombings have also reached points of the province of Punjab, bordering India. Meanwhile, Nueva Delhi has accused Islamabad of having violated the agreement of Alto El Fuego shooting artillery in the Bhimber Gali area, in Poonch-Rajauri. “The Indian army is responding appropriately and calibrated,” the institution reported in X.
The main minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawazm, has declared the state of emergency and has announced the immediate closure of all schools. “Defending every centimeter of Pakistan is the reason for faith of our people,” he said.
Trump criticizes the Indian offensive: “It’s a shame”
From the UN, the Secretary General, António Guterres, has expressed his deep concern. He recalled that “the world cannot afford military confrontation between India and Pakistan” and has urged moderation. His spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, stressed that the tension between both nuclear powers “has reached its highest level in years” and stressed that “a military solution is not the solution.”
Pahalgam’s attack was claimed by the Resistance Front, a group linked to the Islamist organization Lashkar-E-Taiba. India accuses Pakistan of protecting these armed groups in the region in dispute since 1947, the origin of two of the three wars that have freed both countries since their independence. Islamabad, meanwhile, denies any implication and defends its right to answer if it is attacked.
From Washington, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has lamented the Indian offensive and has described it as “shame.” “It’s a shame. I guess people knew something was going to happen. They have been fighting for many decades and centuries. I just hope this ends very soon,” he said after attending the oath ceremony of his new special envoy for the Middle East and Russia, Steve Witkoff.
India has announced military drills in several states to prepare a possible hostile attack. The memory of what happened in 2019, when another attack in Kashmiro flowed at a crossroads of bombings between the two countries, weigh again in the environment. Then, the climbing included the demolition of airplanes, the closure of the airspace and the mutual expulsion of diplomats.
