Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes amid escalating India-Pakistan conflict
By Nadine Osman
London, (The Muslim News): Pakistan launched a series of retaliatory missile and drone strikes overnight Thursday into Friday, targeting multiple locations along India’s western border and the Line of Control (LoC), including Jammu and regions in Rajasthan and Punjab. The Indian army confirmed the attacks, reporting that they involved “multiple drones and munitions” crossing the western border.
The escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have resulted in a deadly exchange of missile and drone strikes along the LoC and international borders, leaving at least 48 people dead and grounding hundreds of flights in northern India.
The crisis began with a deadly assault on April 22 in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam, when 26 tourists were killed, which India quickly blamed on Pakistan-based militants—a claim that Islamabad has strongly denied. Pakistan dismisses the accusation, calling it an attempt to deflect attention from India’s internal issues. India launched “Operation Sindoor” late on Tuesday, targeting what it described as terrorist infrastructure in nine locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
According to Pakistani officials, at least 31 people, including civilians, were killed in those strikes. India claimed the missile attacks were precision strikes aimed at neutralising terror camps.
In response, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that Pakistan deployed a swarm of 300–400 drones across 36 incursions from Leh to Sir Creek. They accused Islamabad of using civilian aviation routes as cover.
However, Pakistan’s Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar rejected these claims, adding that Pakistani forces successfully intercepted and destroyed 77 Israeli-made Harop drones allegedly launched by India to target civilian and military infrastructure. Minister Tarar also confirmed that two civilians were killed when Indian drones crossed into Pakistani airspace on Thursday.
Along the LoC, Pakistani security sources reported that Indian artillery shelling on residential areas in Hajeera, Forward Kahuta, and Khuiratta killed five civilians and injured seven others. India, for its part, accused Pakistan of shelling civilian areas in Indian-administered Poonch, where two students were reportedly killed at the Christ School, and their parents were injured.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri condemned Pakistan, accusing it of deliberately targeting places of worship and schools, calling it “a new low.” Pakistan has strongly dismissed these claims as inflammatory rhetoric.
As a precautionary measure, India closed 27 airports in its northern region until May 10, which led to the cancellation of approximately 430 civilian flights, according to state broadcaster DD News.
So far, at least 48 people have been confirmed dead — 32 in Pakistan and 16 in Indian-administered Kashmir. Both sides have exchanged artillery fire and drone attacks, each accusing the other of unprovoked aggression and targeting civilian infrastructure.
Pakistan continues to assert that its actions are purely defensive. “We have only responded to India’s attacks,” reiterated Information Minister Tarar. The Pakistani military further accused India of using cross-border firing to strike civilian areas in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
There has been no immediate response from Pakistan’s Foreign Office to India’s latest accusations. As of Friday, efforts to de-escalate tensions have not been announced, and both sides remain on high alert.
[Photo: A view of the destruction at Neelum Jhelum Dam structure in Pakistan administrated Kashmir following Indian attack on May 08, 2025 in Muzaffarabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.
Photojournalist: Chudary Naseer/AA]
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