India, Pakistan Exchange Strikes after Kashmir Attack
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – India launched airstrikes on targets in Pakistan-administered Kashmir following the killing of 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, prompting retaliatory fire from Pakistan that it claims brought down five Indian fighter jets.
India said it struck "terrorist infrastructure" across the Line of Control early Wednesday in response to a massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on X, “The world must show zero tolerance for terrorism.”
Pakistan said Indian Rafale jets were among those shot down. Images circulated online showing debris bearing the label of French company Le Bozec et Gautier, a subsidiary of US-based Donaldson Company, supporting Islamabad’s claim.
Donaldson’s 2005 press release stated the French firm manufactures filtration systems for aircraft and helicopters.
Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Bloomberg that five Indian aircraft had been downed. “If these hostile acts are stopped... We will definitely talk to India,” he said. “We do not want this situation to escalate. But if there are hostile acts initiated from the Indian side, we have to respond.”
India’s Defense Ministry said it targeted nine militant sites linked to the April massacre, which left 26 people dead, mostly tourists.
Pakistan’s military said at least eight civilians were killed in the Indian strikes.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called India’s action an “act of war.”
In a separate incident, Indian authorities reported that Pakistani shelling killed seven civilians and wounded 35 others.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on TRT World, “We are a peaceful people, but when it comes to challenging us, the whole nation will respond... united against Indian aggression and standing behind the armed forces of Pakistan.”
India has accused Pakistan of orchestrating the Kashmir attack, which Islamabad denies.
