What we know
- India launched missiles at neighbor and rival Pakistan on Wednesday, dramatically escalating tensions between the nuclear powers in what Pakistan called an "act of war."
- Pakistan's armed forces have been authorized to take "corresponding actions" following the strikes, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said today.
- The strikes took place two weeks after a terrorist attack killed 26 people, most of them tourists, in the Indian part of Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region that both India and Pakistan claim in its entirety. India blames Pakistan for the attack, which Pakistan denies.
- Pakistan said 31 people were killed and 57 others were injured in strikes on six sites, as well as firing along the Line of Control that divides the Indian- and Pakistan-controlled areas of Kashmir. India said it hit nine locations across the Pakistani province of Punjab and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
'Worst point we’ve seen’'between nuclear powers India and Pakistan
India launched missiles at neighboring rival Pakistan, escalating tensions between the nuclear powers two weeks after a terrorist attack in the disputed territory of Kashmir killed 26 people. Foreign Policy Editor-in-chief Ravi Agrawal joins Katy Tur to provide more insight on the conflict.
Before and after satellite images show damage to compound in Pakistan
Satellite images show the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah compound on the outskirts of Bahawalpur before and after Wednesday's strikes. The compound is reportedly associated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed group.
Indian investigators call on public to share information on April 22 attack
India's National Investigation Agency has appealed to anyone who might have more information, photographs or videos on the attack that killed 26 people two weeks ago to come forward.
The agency says its teams remained at the site of the attack, where they've been combing the area for evidence.
It said it had also obtained a "sizeable" number of photographs and videos capturing aspects of the attack, but would be scaling up its efforts "even more intensely to ensure that no useful information or evidence is missed."
The NIA said it wanted to search for "any possible clues to the assailants and their modus operandi." It noted that tourists and other visitors might have inadvertently captured or witnessed details that could help their investigation.
India strikes and Kashmir attack add to long history of tension and war
India has long accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism and it blamed Islamabad for last month's deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir.
The long-simmering conflict began with the end of British colonial rule in 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into what became Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. A territory then called East Pakistan is now known as Bangladesh.
Over 1 million people are estimated to have died in the explosion of communal violence that accompanied the dismemberment of the British Raj, as huge numbers of Hindus fled their homes in Pakistan to cross to India, and Muslims in India did the same to Pakistan.
The mountainous state of Jammu and Kashmir, which at the time was still a kingdom, soon became a flashpoint. Pakistan backed an insurgency there, leading to the first war with India.
Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif addresses the nation
Addressing the nation on Thursday evening, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif framed India's overnight attack as "cowardly" and commended the Pakistan army's downing of five Indian fighter jets during a confrontation over the Line of Control.
India has not confirmed that the fighter jets were shot down. Sharif has called it Pakistan's "crushing response" to the attack.
"We will definitely stand against [India] and win," he added.
Sharif also reiterated that Pakistan was not involved in the attack that killed 26 people in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month.
Death toll rises to 31, Pakistani army says
The spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces has just held an emergency news conference, saying that the death toll from India's overnight assault has risen to 31, and the number of injured to 57.
Pakistani president and prime minister attend funeral prayers for a 7-year-old killed in attacks
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, along with other officials, attended funeral prayers in Islamabad for a 7-year-old boy killed in Dawarandi, in the Poonch district of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir.
Following the prayers, the president condemned India's attacks as "cowardice" and reiterated that they "will be met with decisive action."
Local media report several killed in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir
Police have warned people living along border areas in India’s Jammu and Kashmir to shift to safer places, according to Reuters, as local media outlets reported casualties and damage in the area.
In an interview with the New Indian Express, a lawmaker in the district of Poonch, in Jammu, reported what he characterized as "heavy shelling" at about 3 a.m. local time. Several were killed and dozens more injured, he said.
Resentment between India and Pakistan dates back to their independence
India's attack on targets in Pakistan is the largest escalation in over two decades since the 1999 war India and Pakistan fought over Kashmir.
But resentment between the two countries dates back to 1947 when Hindu-majority India gained independence from British colonial rule. A separate Muslim-majority state, Pakistan, was carved out in a deadly partition in which an estimated one million people were killed in the violent reorganization of people over the newly formed border.
The border lines were clearly defined and widely accepted for the most part, except in the mountainous terrain of Jammu and Kashmir, which remained among the most militarized places in the world.
Both countries lay full claim to it, but most of it is Indian-administered, while Pakistan controls a small chunk to the west. The two neighbors have fought three wars, including two over Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority part of India.
India-Pakistan situation very concerning, says E.U.’s foreign policy chief
The India-Pakistan situation is very concerning, the E.U.’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, told reporters today ahead of a meeting with European foreign ministers in Warsaw, adding that E.U. was trying to mediate and bring tensions down.
India hit Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missiles today, and Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian aircraft and vowed to retaliate, in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
