Pakistan launches 'military operation' against India

Pakistan has launched attacks on "multiple targets" across India, according to the media wing of Pakistan's military.

Pakistan said in a statement that retaliatory attacks are underway in response to what it called "continuous provocation" by India, which fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan. Pakistan's military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to strike more than 25 military sites, including airbases and weapons depots in the Indian states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, as well as locations in India-administered Kashmir.

India's army responded on X to what it described as Pakistan's "blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions" along its western borders, adding they were "instantly engaged and destroyed" by air defences. Pakistan's military posted footage on X showing missiles being fired from what appeared to be a mobile launcher.

The AP news agency also said loud explosions have been heard in India-administered Kashmir, in the disputed region's two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur. Five people were killed in the Jammu region, Indian police told the Reuters news agency.

It marks the latest escalation in a conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals, triggered by a deadly attack last month in India-administered Kashmir. Most of the 26 civilians killed were Hindu Indian tourists.

India blames Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body which takes security decisions, including those related to the country's nuclear arsenal.

On state-run Pakistan television, military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said three air bases were struck by India on Friday, although Pakistan insisted most of the missiles had been intercepted. "India through its planes launched air-to-surface missiles...

[targeting] Noor Khan base, Murid base and Shorkot base," he said. Despite the military offensive, Pakistan Armed Forces (PAF) also posted a message on X in what appeared to represent an opportunity to de-escalate the situation.

"Now that a response has been given we hope the neighbour [India] will move to dialogue and diplomacy like civilised nations," it said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistan's Army Chief General Asim Munir on Friday to "urge both parties to find ways to deescalate" and offer "US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts".

In recent days, both countries have launched a series of missile and drone strikes, although the scale and impact have been consistently questioned by each other. On Wednesday, India conducted airstrikes on several sites in Pakistani territory.

Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets. On Thursday, India claimed to have repelled drone and missile attacks at military targets in more than a dozen cities and towns, including Jammu in India-administered Kashmir.

Meanwhile, India claimed it struck Pakistan's air defence systems and radars close to the city of Lahore. The Indian army said on Friday that Pakistan fired about 300 to 400 drones, targeting military installations along the western borders - a claim strongly denied by Pakistan.

The G7 group of advanced economies, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and Britain, urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan. "We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome," a statement issued on Friday said.

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