Three killed as India fires missiles across Pakistan

Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol in Srinagar (Dar Yasin/AP)

India fired missiles across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory in at least three locations early on Wednesday, killing three people, including a child.

An initial damage assessment of the Indian missile strikes shows at least three people were killed and 12 others injured in Pakistani-controlled territory, a Pakistan military spokesperson has said.

India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants.

The strikes came amid soaring tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours over last month’s militant attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.

India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.

An Indian child walks on bunker near the India–Pakistan International border at Jora (Channi Anand/AP)

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said India has carried out “cowardly” attacks on five locations in Pakistan-controlled territory.

In a statement posted to X, Sharif said: "Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given."

He said the “entire nation” stands with Pakistan’s armed forces on “how to deal with the enemy”.

The missiles early on Wednesday struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to three Pakistani security officials.

One of them struck a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed, and a woman and man were injured, one official said.

The officials said Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes, without providing any details. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media on the record.

The Pakistani army spokesman, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif, told ARY News that the missiles were launched 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,” Mr Sharif told the broadcaster.

India’s Defence Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that at least nine sites were targeted “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned”.

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution”.