India, Pakistan on brink of war: ‘Operation Sindoor’ kills eight, PM warns of ‘robust response’ to airstrikes

All-out war between India and Pakistan looks all but confirmed as tension between the two nations erupts following an Indian airstrike that killed at least eight people and injured over 30 others.

The Indian Ministry of Defence announced the attack on Wednesday morning, saying it had struck nine sites in Pakistan as part of the newly established “Operation Sindoor”.

The Government said the strikes were in retaliation to “terrorist attacks against India”, claiming the targets hit were locations “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.

“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 Indian Government said in a statement.

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

Pakistan has claimed that multiple Indian Air Force jets and drones were shot down during the attacks, with reports suggesting up to five jets may been hit.

Unverified video claiming to show a Pakistani JF-17 fighter jet has emerged on social media.

Pakistan responds to Indian airstrikes

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday’s air strikes and said the “deceitful enemy has carried out cowardly attacks at five locations in Pakistan” and that his country would retaliate.

“Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,” Sharif said.

He said his country and its armed forces “know very well how to deal with the enemy.”

Video of the attacks quickly spread online, showing the force and extend of the airstrikes in the dark of the night.

Indian TV channels showed video of explosions, fire, large plumes of smoke in the night sky and people fleeing in several places in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.

Witnesses and one police officer at two sites on the frontier in Indian Kashmir said they heard loud explosions and intense artillery shelling as well as jets in the air.

An emergency was declared in Pakistan’s populous province of Punjab, its chief minister said, and hospitals and emergency services were on high alert.

US President Donald Trump called the situation “a shame” and added:”I hope it ends quickly.”

Mr Trump told White House reporters that he had just heard about the intensification of hostilities that had occurred in recent hours.

Pakistan closed its airspace for 48 hours following the attacks with flights at Islamabad and Lahore airports suspended until further notice, a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said.

Multiple airlines, including Qatar and Air India have either cancelled or diverted flights.

Why are India and Pakistan fighting?

India’s offensive occurred amid heightened tensions in the aftermath of an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month. Islamist assailants killed 26 men in the April 22 attack, the worst such violence targeted at civilians in India in nearly two decades.

The name of India’s military operation, Sindoor, is an apparent reference to the women who lost their spouses in the attack on Hindu tourists in Pahalgam last month.

Sindoor is the Hindi for the traditional red vermilion worn by married Hindu women on their forehead symbolising protection and marital commitment. Women traditionally stop wearing it when they are widowed.

- with Reuters, AP