India strikes Pakistan. Islamabad calls it an “act of war” and vows to respond

Brussels – India confirmed that it has launched “precision attacks on terrorist camps” in nine locations in Kashmir under Pakistani control and Pakistan as part of an air raid  launched this morning (May 7). Tensions between the two nuclear powers had already increased on April 22, when India accused its neighbor of being involved in the terrorist attack that claimed 26 lives in Indian Kashmir.

“We are closely following the latest developments and urge both parties to show restraint and take immediate steps toward de-escalation,” said Anouar El Anouni, spokesperson for the European Commission on Foreign Affairs, during a press conference. “The EU reiterates the need for a peaceful, negotiated, lasting resolution that both sides recognize,” he added, noting the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers today and tomorrow in Gymnich, Poland, will discuss the conflict.

Allegedly, at least 31 civilians were killed between the two countries by shelling and as a result of the exchange of fire between the two armies in Kashmir, said Pakistani army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Chaudhry, adding that the deadliest attack killed 13 civilians, including two three-year-old girls, at a mosque in Bahawalpur, in Pakistani Punjab, that a according to Indian intelligence was linked to armed groups in Kashmir. Pakistani authorities called the attacks an “act of war,” saying that they shot down five Indian Air Force jets and a drone. “Pakistan will give an appropriate response,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has already authorized his country’s armed forces to carry out “corresponding actions.”

While India claims to have struck exclusively “terrorist infrastructure” belonging to the militant Islamist groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), specifying that its actions were “focused, measured and unprovoked in nature, Islamabad says none of the targets hit in the “cowardly attack” were militant camps, while the JeT group issued a statement that 10 relatives of its leader Masood Azhar were killed in the attack.

Countries like Russia, China, Turkey, and the United States called on the two contenders to cool hostilities. At the same time, the United Nations Organization expressed concern: “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.” Beijing warned its citizens to avoid traveling to Kashmir, while Air France has joined the airlines that have announced they would avoid routes flying over Pakistani airspace.

Control of Kashmir, a vast region in the foothills of the Himalayas, has been disputed by India and Pakistan since the two nations gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. The last confrontation over the territory occurred in 1999.