India says its missiles hit sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir

POONCH/ISLAMABAD — India said Wednesday it carried out "precision strikes at terrorist camps" inside Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, days after it blamed Islamabad for a deadly attack on the Indian side of the contested region.

The long-simmering conflict between the neighboring nuclear powers intensified dramatically overnight. Fighter jets roared through the skies over the Himalayan territory early Wednesday and the sounds of explosions could be heard near the so-called Line of Control.

"A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched 'OPERATION SINDOOR', hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed," the government said in a statement.

At least three civilians, including a child, were killed after India fired missiles at Pakistani territory early Wednesday, Pakistan's Minister of Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif told AFP.

"They have targeted multiple locations, which all are civilian... We have confirmed reports of three civilians killed that includes one child," Asif told AFP.

The Indian army, in a video posted on its X account, said "justice is served," with New Delhi adding that its actions "have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature".

"No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted," it added. "India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution".

Loud explosions were heard in the town of Poonch, only about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the dividing line, as New Delhi accused Pakistan of firing shells across the Line of Control.

Indian fighter jets could be heard flying over Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, while explosions were heard in Wuyan, a few kilometers from Srinagar's military headquarters.

"Pakistan again violates the Ceasefire Agreement by firing Artillery in Bhimber Gali in Poonch - Rajauri area," on the Indian side, the Indian army said in a post on X.

The bilateral ties between the two countries plummeted after gunmen killed 26 mainly Hindu civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.

Cross-border exchanges of fire started two days after that attack at a small meadow near Pahalgam in Indian-controlled part of the territory.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that water from India that once flowed across borders will be stopped, days after suspending a key water treaty with arch-rival Pakistan.

Modi did not mention Islamabad specifically, but his speech comes after New Delhi suspended its part of the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty, which governs water critical to parched Pakistan for consumption and agriculture.

"India's water used to go outside, now it will flow for India", Modi said in a speech in New Delhi.

Pakistan has warned that tampering with its rivers would be considered "an act of war".

 'Boiling point'

A day earlier, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said relations between Pakistan and India had reached a "boiling point", warning that "now is the time for maximum restraint and stepping back from the brink" of war.

Islamabad on Tuesday accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed

The Pakistani military has said it has launched two missile tests in recent days, including a test on Saturday of a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometres -- about the distance from the Pakistan border to New Delhi.

International pressure has been piled on both New Delhi and Islamabad, who have fought several wars over Kashmir.

The United States, as well as the rivals' mutual neighbour China, have both called for leaders to exercise restraint.

Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

India regularly blames its neighbour for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.