International Community Urges Restraint Amid India-Pakistan Conflict
SRINAGAR, May 7: At 2.45 AM during the intervening night of May 6 and 7, fighter jets were hovering over the sky in Srinagar. Just after 15-minutes, at around 3.00 AM, reports of Indian strikes inside Pakistan's territory started to come.
The attack came ahead of the civilian mock drills scheduled on May 7, Wednesday in several parts of India. Soon after the Indian attack, Pakistan's army and government said they are retaliating. As per reports from Pakistan's media, Indian strikes had caused 8 casualties and 12 injuries.
A BBC report quoting Pakistani officials said that eight persons have been feared dead and a dozen injuries in different parts of Pakistan. The report also said that three Indian fighter jets have been shot down. There was no independent confirmation of the claims on both sides of the border between India and Pakistan.
In response, Pakistan said it shot down two Indian jets and started shelling at many locations along the Line of Control and International Border.
A video from south Kashmir's Pulwama is being circulated, of a burning plane with locals trying to control the flames that were spreading to nearby residential areas.
"I woke to a friend's call who asked about the situation and if we are fine. I was sleeping, I didn't know. Just a couple of minutes later, I heard sirens and then a loud bang," said 28-year-old Younis Dar from north Kashmir's Baramulla.
"We are hearing intense firing and intermittently some loud bangs, all our family members have gathered into a single room. We are scared," said 27-year-old Qurat from north Kashmir's Kupwara.
India has called the attack as "Operation Sindoor", claiming that it hit nine targets belonging to "terrorist infrastructure." In an official statement, India said that attack was a response to the Pahalgam attack.
Soon after the attack, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wrote on his official X-handle: "Long Live Mother India." Singh wrote in Hindi.
In a post on X, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decried the Indian strike as an “act of war”.
“Pakistan has every right to give a befitting reply to this act of war imposed by India and a befitting reply is being given,” he said.
“The enemy will never be allowed to succeed in his nefarious objectives,” he said, adding that the morale of the Pakistani nation is high.
The Indian military says Pakistan fired into Bhimber Gali, a village near the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Pakistan- and India-administered Kashmir.
In a post on X, the army said it is “responding appropriately in a calibrated manner”.
Pakistan’s PM summons National Security Committee
Shehbaz Sharif has summoned the National Security Committee to meet at 10am (05:00 GMT) today, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar has said, according to state broadcaster Pakistan Television.
UN chief calls for ‘maximum military restraint from both countries’
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has released the following statement:
“The secretary-general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border.
“He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries. The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
US says it’s in touch with both Pakistan and India
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce has called on both countries to “work towards a responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional stability in South Asia”.
“We remain in touch with the governments of both countries at multiple levels,” she said.
The United States has close relations with India and voiced solidarity after April’s attack. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week called top officials from both nuclear-armed nations and advised de-escalation.
A Reuters report said:
India attacked nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday.
"Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution," it said in a statement.
India's offensive occurred amid heightened tensions in the aftermath of an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month.
Islamist assailants killed 26 men in the April 22 attack, the worst such violence targeted at civilians in India in nearly two decades.
Pakistan said it was mounting a response as the worst fighting in years erupted between the longstanding enemies.
WHERE DID THIS HAPPEN?
Pakistan said India launched missiles at three places. India said it struck "terrorist infrastructure" where attacks against it were planned and directed.
Indian TV channels showed video of explosions, fire, large plumes of smoke in the night sky and people fleeing in several places in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Geo that all sites targeted by India were civilian and not militant camps.
WHAT ARE THE CASUALTIES?
A Pakistani military spokesman told broadcaster Geo that sites struck by India included two mosques and said there had been at least three deaths and 12 people injured.
Asif said India fired missiles from its own airspace and India's claim of targeting "camps of terrorists is false".
After India's strikes, the Indian army said in a post on X on Wednesday: "Justice is served."
WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?
India blamed Pakistan for the violence last month in which 26 men were killed and vowed to respond. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings and said that it had intelligence that India was planning to attack.
The name of India's military operation, Sindoor, is an apparent reference to the women who lost their spouses in last month's attack.
Sindoor is the Hindi for the traditional red vermilion worn by married Hindu women on their forehead symbolising protection and marital commitment. Women traditionally stop wearing it when they are widowed.
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