Summary

  • Tensions escalate in India and Pakistan, after India launches missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir

  • Pakistan says six locations were attacked and PM Shehbaz Sharif says five Indian jets were downed

  • India has not confirmed the downing of the jets - BBC Verify has looked at footage purporting to show pieces of debris from Indian aircraft

  • Pakistan says 26 people have been killed and 46 injured by air strikes and firing along the Line of Control

  • Meanwhile, India's army says at least 15 civilians were killed by Pakistani shelling on its side of the de facto border

  • India says the missile strikes are in response to a deadly militant attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month

  • Indian-administered Kashmir has seen a decades-long insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full

Media caption,

Watch: Aftermath of strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir

  1. What we know so farpublished at 08:23 British Summer Time

    Tensions are rising after India launched air strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. If you're just joining us, here's a quick recap:

    • India has said it targeted nine different sites that it described as "terrorist infrastructure" in a "focused, measured and non-escalatory" manner, and added that it had not hit any Pakistani military facilities
    • Pakistan, which has denied any involvement in last month's militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, has said that India hit six sites in what it described as a "cowardly attack"
    • The strikes, which took place at night, have triggered heavy artillery shelling along the de facto border between the two countries
    • India said 10 people have died and 32 injured in Indian-administered Kashmir
    • Pakistan said 26 people have been killed and 46 injured in Indian air strikes and firing along the border. India says it has "no reports of civilian casualties in Pakistan"
    • Relations between India and Pakistan - both nuclear-armed states - have declined sharply following last month's deadly militant attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Indian officials say they have found links between the attackers and Pakistan - a charge Islamabad strongly denied earlier. A manhunt by security forces is still under way
    • Since then, both India and Pakistan have announced a range of retaliatory measures against one another, including closing borders and suspending a river water treaty. Troops from both sides have also traded small arms fire

    The story is moving fast. Stay with us as we bring you more updates.

  2. Sense of fear and uncertainty after strikes: BBC reports from Muzaffarabadpublished at 08:19 British Summer Time

    BBC Urdu correspondent Farhat Javed reports from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir where an Indian air strike damaged a mosque and some houses.

    Though many people had left the area last night, some residents have been able to return to assess the damage to their properties, locals told the BBC. A sense of fear and uncertainty remains as people try to make sense of what happened last night.

    Media caption,

    Sense of fear and uncertainty after strikes: BBC reports from Muzaffarabad

  3. Civilian toll rises to 10: Indian army officialpublished at 07:54 British Summer Time

    The toll from cross-border shelling on the Indian side has risen to 10, a top army official has confirmed to the BBC.

    All the deaths have been reported from Poonch district, which lies near the Line of Control (LoC) - the de facto border between India and Pakistan.

    At least 32 people have been injured in the violence, which began after India launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir earlier today.

  4. Pakistan summons India's chargé d’affaires over air strikespublished at 07:49 British Summer Time

    As tensions escalate, Pakistan says it has summoned India's chargé d’affaires to complain about what it calls "unprovoked" Indian air strikes.

    "These strikes resulted in deaths and injuries of several civilians, including women and children," a statement by Pakistan's foreign ministry said, adding that the Indian action "constituted a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty".

    Islamabad says it has also warned Delhi that "such reckless behaviour poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability".

  5. Had intelligence of further impending attacks against India: Officialpublished at 07:37 British Summer Time

    Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri spoke at a press conference about India's strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

    India blames Pakistan for the deadly Pahalgam attack which killed 26 people last month - a claim Pakistan denies.

    "It was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the 22 April attack be brought to justice," Mr Misri said.

    He added that India had intelligence that "further attacks" were "impending".

    "There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt," he said.

    Media caption,

    There was intelligence of further attacks against India: Official

  6. Pakistan says 26 killed in Indian air strikespublished at 07:24 British Summer Time

    Pakistan’s military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry says 26 people have been killed and 46 injured in Indian air strikes and firing along the Line of Control - the de facto border between the countries.

    Pakistan had earlier put the number of dead at eight.

    At their briefing earlier today, an Indian army officer had said they had "no reports of civilian casualties in Pakistan".

    One of the buildings targeted by Indian air strikes
    Image caption,

    India launched air strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the early hours of Wednesday

  7. At least seven dead in Indian-administered Kashmir, says officialpublished at 06:58 British Summer Time

    Aamir Peerzada
    Reporting from Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir

    A top official in Poonch district in Indian-administered Kashmir has told the BBC that at least seven people have been killed and around 32 others have been injured in cross-border shelling in Poonch district.

    Poonch lies near the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between India and Pakistan.

    “The shelling has stopped as of now. We are on the ground assessing the situation," said Azhar Majid, sub-divisional magistrate of Poonch.

    An Indian army spokesperson had earlier confirmed three deaths in the region.

  8. Indian military officials give details of air strikespublished at 06:53 British Summer Time

    Indian officials at the briefingImage source, PIB
    Image caption,

    (From left) Col Sofiya Qureshi, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh at the briefing in Delhi

    After Mr Misri's briefing, two Indian military officials - Colonel Sofiya Qureshi from the army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh from the air force - gave details of the Indian operation. They also showed visuals of what they described as "destroyed terror camps".

    Some points from their briefing:

    • India conducted airstrikes at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir
    • The strikes took place over 25 minutes between 01:05 and 01:30 India time (19:35 and 20:00 GMT on Tuesday)
    • We chose the targets based on credible intelligence inputs
    • We have successfully destroyed the targets
  9. 'Clear links between Pakistan and attackers' - says India officialpublished at 06:47 British Summer Time

    Mr Misri spoke in some detail about the "barbarity" of last month's attack in Indian-administered Kashmir which he said was carried out by "Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists". He did not share any evidence of this in the briefing.

    He blamed the attack on The Resistance Front (TRF), describing it as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group based in Pakistan that India has designated a terrorist organisation.

    Soon after the attack, a social media post appeared claiming to be speaking on behalf of the TRF, saying it was behind the killings. But the TRF later denied involvement saying someone with access to its social media account had wrongly claimed a role in the attack.

    Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack and asked India to show any evidence it has. It hasn't responded to India's latest claims yet.

    Mr Misri said Indian intelligence's monitoring of "Pakistan-based terrorist modules" indicated that further attacks against India were impending.

    "There was thus compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt [further attacks]."

    He also reiterated that India's strikes in Pakistani territory were "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible".

  10. Attack aimed at 'undermining normalcy' in Indian-administered Kashmir - officialpublished at 06:27 British Summer Time

    Vikram MisriImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Vikram Misri

    Some updates from the briefing...

    Mr Misri said the attack was clearly driven by the "objective of undermining the normalcy" returning to Indian-administered Kashmir.

    It was designed to derail the mainstay of the local economy - tourism, he said.

    Last year, more than 22.5 million tourists visited Indian-administered Kashmir, Mr Misri added.

  11. India's briefing has startedpublished at 06:16 British Summer Time

    India's media briefing on the strikes has started in the capital, Delhi. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is currently speaking about the militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir and about Pakistan's alleged link to the attackers - an accusation Islamabad has denied.

    Stay with us as we bring you more from the briefing.

  12. BBC reports from crash site in Pamporepublished at 06:10 British Summer Time

    Debris from an unidentified aircraft has been found in Pampore in Indian-administered Kashmir. There is no official confirmation yet on which aircraft has crashed or who it belongs to.

    Pakistan’s military claims it has shot down five Indian fighter jets but India has not commented on this yet. The BBC's Riyaz Masroor reports from the ground.

    Video by Shafat Farooq, BBC Urdu

    Media caption,

    BBC reports from the crash site of unidentified aircraft

  13. Indian stock markets marginally in the redpublished at 05:46 British Summer Time

    Archana Shukla
    India business correspondent

    People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, 07 April 2025Image source, EPA

    India's benchmark stock indexes opened lower on Wednesday after the military strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

    The Sensex lost close to 800 points and the Nifty lost 150 points in pre-trade, though they recovered some losses in the first few minutes after markets opened.

    Sectoral indices trading in the red include media, consumer goods and pharma. Auto stocks and banks are, however, gaining in trade.

    Markets are also reacting to news from Tuesday evening of India clinching a trade deal with the UK that looks to boost trade amidst global tariff turmoil.

    Broader Asian markets were also trading in the green on Wednesday.

  14. 'Proud of our armed forces' - India's Home Minister Amit Shahpublished at 05:36 British Summer Time

    The national president of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Amit Shah addresses the media prior to a rally as part of the election campaign in Kolkata, on April 22, 2019. (Photo by Debajyoti Chakraborty/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Image source, Getty Images

    Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has praised the country's armed forces in a post on X, saying he was proud of them.

    Operation Sindoor - India's name for its strikes on Pakistan - is the country's response to the "brutal killing of our innocent brothers in Pahalgam", he wrote.

    "The Modi government is resolved to give a befitting response to any attack on India and its people. Bharat [India's name in the Hindi language] remains firmly committed to eradicating terrorism from its roots," he added.

  15. Pakistan claims it has shot down five Indian fighter jets and a dronepublished at 05:28 British Summer Time

    Media caption,

    Pakistan military claims to have shot down five Indian fighter jets

    Pakistan has claimed that it has shot down five Indian aircraft.

    "So far, I can confirm to you that five Indian aircraft - including three Rafale, one SU-30 and one MiG-29 - and one Heron drone have also been shot down,” Pakistan military spokesperson Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary has said in a video shared by Reuters.

    India has not responded to the claims yet.

  16. Eyewitness account from Poonch: 'We rushed her to the hospital but couldn't save her'published at 05:18 British Summer Time

    Aamir Peerzada
    Reporting from Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir

    We are now getting more details about one of the three civilian deaths that have been confirmed in Indian-administered Kashmir after Pakistan retaliated to India's air strikes with shelling along the Line of Control - the de-facto border between the countries.

    Buava Singh, a resident of Poonch district located along the LoC, says a mortar shell struck his niece Ruby Kaur's house late in the night.

    "She had just woken up to make tea for her husband, who hadn't been keeping well. The shell’s splinters hit her head, causing severe bleeding. We rushed her to a nearby hospital, but she was declared dead,” Singh says. Ruby Kaur's daughter was badly injured.

    Singh says that there were no community bunkers in the area, forcing residents to take shelter in their homes.

    "We have never seen such heavy shelling so far," he adds.

  17. China says India's operation 'regrettable'published at 05:06 British Summer Time

    The Chinese foreign ministry has called India's military operation against Pakistan "regrettable".

    In response to a question on escalating tensions between the South Asian rivals, the foreign ministry spokesperson, external said they were "concerned" about the ongoing situation and asked both countries to "remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that may further complicate the situation".

  18. Eyewitnesses recount India's strikes on Pakistani targetspublished at 04:49 British Summer Time

    BBC Urdu

    Paramilitary soldiers inspect a collapsed building of a complex in Muridke after India's strikesImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Pakistan paramilitary soldiers inspect a collapsed building at a complex in Muridke after the strikes

    Muhammad Younis Shah, a resident of Muridke in Pakistan's Punjab province, tells the BBC that four missiles fired by India fell on a building within a large complex. The first three missiles landed in quick succession while a fourth came after an interval of five-to-seven minutes, he said.

    The complex - which has a school and a college, a hostel and a medical centre as well as a mosque and some other buildings - has been partially damaged. Shah says the complex also has a residential area where some families live. It is not clear which of the buildings were damaged in the strike and the extent of the damage they suffered.

    Rescue workers, fire brigade and policemen are present in the area which is gripped by fear and panic, he says. "All the people have moved from here to a safer place," he adds.

    A view of the destruction at Bilal Mosque in Pakistan-administrated Kashmir after India's strikesImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    A view of the destroyed Bilal Mosque in Pakistan-administrated Kashmir after India's strikes

    Muhammad Waheed lives near the Bilal mosque in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

    “I was fast asleep when the first explosion shook my house,” he told the BBC.

    “I ran out onto the road where people had already gathered. Before we could figure out what was happening, three more missiles were fired, causing widespread panic and chaos."

    Waheed says dozens of people, including women, have been injured and taken to a nearby hospital.

    "People are now fleeing their homes and the sense of uncertainty is very high," he adds.

  19. Indian army confirms three dead in Indian-administered Kashmirpublished at 04:21 British Summer Time

    An Indian army spokesperson has now confirmed to the BBC that three civilians have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. We don't have more details at the moment.

  20. 'World must show zero tolerance for terrorism' - India foreign ministerpublished at 04:17 British Summer Time

    India's External Affairs Minster Subrahmanyam Jaishankar participates in a joint news conference during the fourth US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 11, 2022. (Photo by MICHAEL MCCOY / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL MCCOY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Image source, Getty Images

    India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has said in a post on X that the world "must show zero tolerance for terrorism".

    He added an image with the words 'Operation Sindoor' - the name India is using to describe Wednesday's strikes against Pakistan.

    The image has a black background with the words 'Operation Sindoor' written in white. One of the Os in Sindoor is a round pot filled with vermillion powder worn by married Hindu women in the parting of their hair.

    The depiction is being read as a reference to the women who were widowed after their husbands were shot dead by militants in Pahalgam. All the 26 people killed in the attack were men.