Dozens killed as India, Pakistan clash in worst violence in decades

Dozens killed as India, Pakistan clash in worst violence in decades

Smoke rises in the main town of Poonch, in India on May 7, 2025

India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier Wednesday after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival, in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades.

At least 43 deaths were reported, with Islamabad saying 31 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling.

The fighting came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.

The South Asian neighbours have fought multiple wars over the divided territory since they were carved out of the sub-continent after gaining independence from British rule in 1947.

The Indian army said "justice is served", reporting nine "terrorist camps" had been destroyed, with New Delhi adding that its actions "have been focused, measured and non-escalatory".

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to "shore up" his domestic popularity, adding that Islamabad "won't take long to settle the score".

Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian jets had been downed across the border overnight.

An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.

- Children among the dead -

The largest Indian strike was on an Islamic seminary near the Punjabi city of Bahawalpur, killing 13 people according to the Pakistan military. 

A government health and education complex in Muridke, 30 kilometres from Lahore, was blown apart, along with a mosque in Muzaffarabad -- the main city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir -- killing its caretaker.  

Four children were among those killed in Wednesday's attacks, according to the Pakistan military. 

Pakistan also said a hydropower plant in Kashmir was targeted by India, damaging a dam structure, after India threatened to stop the flow of water on its side of the border.

Pakistan had earlier warned that tampering with the rivers that flow into its territory would be an "act of war".

India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the overnight operation was New Delhi's "right to respond" following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month. 

Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam assault.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif labelled India's strikes a "heinous act of aggression" that would "not go unpunished".

On Wednesday night, Pakistan military spokesman Chaudhry said the rise in the death toll was due to "India's unprovoked firing at the Line of Control and ceasefire violations."

"Every last drop of the blood of innocent Pakistani civilians killed will be avenged," he said.

- 'Terrible sounds in the night' -

In Muzaffarabad, United Nations military observers arrived to inspect a mosque that Islamabad said was struck by India. 

"There were terrible sounds during the night, there was panic among everyone," said Muhammad Salman, who lives close to the mosque.

"We are moving to a safer place... we are homeless now," added 24-year-old Tariq Mir, who was hit in the leg by shrapnel. 

Residents collected damaged copies of the Koran from among concrete, wood, and iron debris.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, residents fled in panic from the Pakistan shelling.

"There was firing from Pakistan, which damaged the houses and injured many," said Wasim Ahmed, 29, from Salamabad village. "People are fleeing." 

- Global concern -

India had been widely expected to respond militarily to the Pahalgam attack on April 22 that killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men, which it blamed on Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

The two nations have traded days of threats and tit-for-tat diplomatic measures, while Pakistan has conducted two missile tests.

The Indian army has reported nightly gunfire along the heavily militarised Line of Control that separates the region since April 24.

"Escalation between India and Pakistan has already reached a larger scale than during the last major crisis in 2019, with potentially dire consequences," International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi said.

Diplomats and world leaders have piled pressure on both countries to step back. 

"The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan," the spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump called for a halt to the fighting, adding "if I can do anything to help, I will be there."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected in New Delhi late on Wednesday, two days after a visit to Islamabad, as Tehran seeks to mediate. 

Rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

India regularly blames Pakistan for backing armed groups fighting its forces in Kashmir, a charge that Islamabad denies.

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Originally published as Dozens killed as India, Pakistan clash in worst violence in decades