EXPLAINER
Pakistan says India’s missile attacks on six locations killed at least eight people and wounded more than 35.
Just after midnight on Wednesday, India’s army launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine sites it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan’s armed forces said India’s military attacked six different places in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, launching 24 strikes, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 35.
The locations targeted in the attacks include:
- Ahmedpur Sharqia, near Bahawalpur (Punjab province) – The deadliest strike occurred here, where a mosque compound was hit, killing at least five people, including a three-year-old girl, according to Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces.
- Muridke city (Punjab province)
- A village near Sialkot (Punjab province)
- Shakargarh (Punjab province)
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, two locations were also hit:
- Muzaffarabad and Kotli – where two mosques were destroyed, killing a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy.
Pakistani officials claim their forces have also shot down five Indian warplanes. India did not immediately comment.
The Indian Army says Pakistani artillery fire killed at least three people in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Where is Kashmir?
Located in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, Kashmir lies at a high altitude, with much of the region rising over 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) above sea level. It covers an area of 222,200 square kilometres (85,800 square miles).
The population is overwhelmingly Muslim, with approximately four million people living in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and about 13 million in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
The de facto border that divides Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Indian-administered Kashmir is known as the Line of Control (LoC). The line originally marked the military front when the two countries declared a ceasefire in January 1949 after their first war over Kashmir. It was formally named the LoC under the 1972 Simla Agreement, signed after the 1971 war that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
Who controls Kashmir?
India, Pakistan and China each claim parts of Kashmir.
Pakistan controls the northern and western portions, namely Gilgit and Baltistan and what Pakistan calls Azad Kashmir or “free Kashmir”. India controls the southern and southeastern parts, including the Kashmir Valley and its biggest city, Srinagar, as well as Jammu and Ladakh.
Pakistan calls Indian-administered Kashmir “Indian-occupied Kashmir”. India returns the favour – it calls Pakistan-administered Kashmir “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”.
What happened during the Pahalgam attack?
On April 22, armed men opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing 26 men in one of the deadliest attacks on tourists in decades.
The attack occurred in the Baisaran meadow, in Pahalgam, a well-known tourist destination located 50km (32 miles) southeast of the regional summer capital, Srinagar.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a little-known armed group, which India insists is a proxy for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.
India has implied it believes Pakistan may have indirectly supported the Pahalgam attack – a claim Pakistan strongly denies.
Prior to Wednesday’s attacks, both countries had engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic swipes at each other, including cancelling visas for each other’s citizens, recalling diplomatic staff and closing airspace to each other’s carriers.