| By AP News Photos: YouTube Screenshots Early Wednesday, India fired missiles at Pakistan that hit six locations, killing at least 26 people, including women and children, said Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif. Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since an attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, at a popular meadow in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Read more. |
| What to know: India said the strikes were retaliation for last month’s massacre. They targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian fighter jets. Three planes fell onto villages in India-controlled territory. At least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, Indian police and medics said. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the airstrikes and said his country would retaliate. “Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India,” he said. India accuses Pakistan of being behind the April 22 attack in Kashmir, which was claimed by a militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance. India says the group is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a disbanded Pakistani militant group. Islamabad denies involvement. Several Indian states held civil defense drills Wednesday to train civilians and security personnel to respond in case of any “hostile attacks.” Such drills are rare in non-crisis times. |
