India said it attacked “terrorist infrastructure” in neighboring Pakistan on Wednesday in two of its occupied territories, killing at least one child and wounding two other people in what Pakistan has called a “blatant act of war.”
The Indian armed forces launched “Operation Sindoor,” which targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed, the Press Information Bureau of India said in a statement.
“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature,” India’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. “No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted.”
INDIA’S MODI GIVES ARMY FREEDOM TO ACT AS TENSIONS RISE WITH PAKISTAN AFTER DEADLY TERROR ATTACK
“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the statement said.
The missiles launched Wednesday struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province. A mosque in the city of Bahawalpur was struck, killing a child, and a woman and man were injured, one Pakistani security official said.
The attack occurred in a remote valley only accessible on foot or by horse, and survivors claimed after the attack that the gunmen had accused some of the victims of supporting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“In an unprovoked and blatant act of war, the Indian Air Force, while remaining within Indian airspace, has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Muridke and Bahawalpur, and across Line of Control in Kotli and Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said. “India’s act of aggression has resulted in martyrdom of civilians, including women and children. This act of aggression has also caused grave threat to commercial air traffic.”
President Donald Trump said he hoped the tension between the two nations subsides.
“It’s a shame. We just heard about it just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval (Office),” he said. “I just heard about it. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. You know, they’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it.”
PAKISTAN FEARS INDIA INCURISON ‘IMMINENT’ AMID HEIGHTENED TENSIONS FOLLOWING TERROR ATTACK
“I just hope it ends very quickly,” he said.
The military action comes amid tense relations between the nuclear-armed states following an April 22 attack that killed 26 people in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, a long-disputed territory that has been the source of tension between the two nations and is one of the most militarized regions in the world.
Kashmir has been a disputed region since both India and Pakistan gained their autonomy from Britain in 1947.
India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.
“In the wake of Pahalgam attack, the Indian leadership has once again used the bogey of terrorism to advance its sham narrative of victimhood, jeopardizing regional peace and security,” Pakistan said. “India’s reckless action has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict.”
Pakistani army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, told ARY News that the missiles were launched Wednesday from within Indian territory and that no Indian aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace.
“This was a cowardly attack targeting innocent civilians under the cover of darkness,” Sharif told the broadcaster.
Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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