In the early hours of Wednesday, May 7, 2025, South Asia witnessed one of its most dramatic attacks in recent years as India launched coordinated missile and air strikes on nine locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
According to the Indian Ministry of Defence, the operation began at 01:05 IST (19:35 GMT, Tuesday) and concluded by 01:30 IST. The strikes, reportedly lasting just 25 minutes, targeted what India called “militant infrastructure” belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Indian officials said the operation, dubbed Operation Sindoor, was in direct retaliation for the April 2025 massacre in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, where over 24 tourists were gunned down in a deadly militant attack.
“We had credible, actionable intelligence that the perpetrators were being sheltered in Pakistan,” said Lt. Gen. Harinder Saini, a senior Indian military spokesperson. “This is a calibrated response to restore deterrence. We will not allow Indian soil to bleed without consequences.”
Among the locations hit were a Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur, Punjab, 100 km inside Pakistan’s territory; LeT camps in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir; and two training sites in Sialkot, 6 to 18 km from the international border.
Pakistan strongly condemned the strikes, calling them “an unprovoked act of war.” Speaking to CNN, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif stated: “(India) crossed an international boundary. This is a clear-cut violation and an invitation to expand the conflict and maybe convert it into something much more dangerous for the region. We are fully prepared for an all-out war.”
Pakistani military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sharif claimed that six locations were hit, not nine as India asserted, and that Pakistan’s air defense forces shot down five Indian fighter jets and a drone. India has not confirmed these losses.
Pakistan reported 26 civilian deaths, including a 3-year-old girl, and 46 injuries due to Indian airstrikes and shelling. India reported at least 12 civilian casualties in its border towns from retaliatory Pakistani shelling, including in Poonch and Baramulla districts.
Eyewitnesses in Muzaffarabad, where one of the strikes hit near the Bilal Mosque, described being jolted awake by “massive thunderous blasts.”
“The ground shook. We thought it was an earthquake,” said Imran Qureshi, an area resident.
In India’s Poonch district, smoke billowed from rooftops after Pakistani artillery landed in residential areas. “People are terrified. We haven’t seen this kind of shelling in years,” said Suman Raina, a local schoolteacher.
Srinath Raghavan, a Delhi-based military historian, told the BBC: “What’s striking this time is the expansion of India’s targets beyond past patterns. This wasn’t just across the Line of Control, it reached deep into Pakistan’s Punjab. That’s a serious escalation.”
Ajay Bisaria, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, called the operation a “Balakot-plus” response, referencing India’s 2019 strikes on Balakot after the Pulwama bombing.
“These strikes were more precise and visible than in the past, less deniable by Pakistan and meant to re-establish deterrence,” he said.
Unlike previous crises, the Pakistani public’s reaction has been subdued due to internal political instability. With former Prime Minister Imran Khan still behind bars, public trust in the military is fractured. “This standoff may become an opportunity for the Pakistani military to reclaim legitimacy,” said Dr. Ejaz Hussain, a Lahore-based political analyst. “A retaliatory strike seems very likely, possibly surgical, but the risk is that both sides spiral into broader conflict.”
India has expelled Pakistani diplomats, suspended a decades-old water-sharing treaty, and shut down major border crossings and airspace to Pakistani aircraft. In return, Pakistan suspended the 1972 peace accord and barred Indian flights.
These tit-for-tat moves mirror those taken in the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama-Balakot crisis. However, the scale and depth of strikes this time are significantly broader.
Christopher Clary, a South Asia security expert from the University at Albany, warned: “This could be the most dangerous standoff since 2002. There’s hope for a single round of reciprocal strikes followed by diplomacy, but the risk of full conflict remains alarmingly high.”
Both nations now appear locked in a cycle of military posturing and retaliation.
The international community has urged restraint, though no formal mediation efforts have yet been announced.
Currently, the region remains tense with additional troop deployments reported on both sides.
Airspaces remain restricted, and civilians along the border are being advised to shelter indoors as fears of further escalation continue to grow.
