The Pakistani military claims it has shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation for missile strikes against Pakistani territory that it says killed 26 people.

Earlier, it was reported the eight people were killed and more than 33 injured when India fired missiles into Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country’s eastern Punjab province early on Wednesday. The missiles damaged a medical centre and several mosques, according to Associated Press.

The Pakistani military claimed it had shot down five Indian aircraft and one drone in retaliation. A spokesman quoted Article 51 of the UN Charter, saying the action had been taken in self-defence after the Indian aircraft violated Pakistan’s territory. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said India was a “deceitful enemy” that had “carried out cowardly attacks.”

“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.”

پاکستان کا بھارت کو منہ توڑ جواب۔ پانچ طیارے مار گرائے۔#PakistanZindabad#PakistanZindabad pic.twitter.com/ExxghfJdjk

— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) May 7, 2025

India said it attacked “terrorist infrastructure” in nine sites. After the strikes, the Indian army said in a post on X: “Justice is served.”

The escalating conflict has prompted the Australian Government to issue updated travel warnings for both countries, advising Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Pakistan and “exercise a high degree of caution” if travelling in India.

It also advised there may be flight disruptions and airport closures, with commercial airlines avoiding the Indian-Pakistan border. 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.

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

#PahalgamTerrorAttack

Justice is Served.

Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/Aruatj6OfA

— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 6, 2025

On Wednesday, 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. 

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.

“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 statement said.

“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.

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

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

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