Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes after Indian bombing of air bases

Pakistan's armed forces announced early Saturday morning that retaliatory actions are underway after three of its air bases were attacked with Indian missiles, an action that followed a wave of Pakistani drone strikes in Indian Kashmir and the state of Punjab.

"India, in its brazen aggression, launched missile strikes. Nur Khan, Muri and Shorkot bases were targeted," Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaundhry said on Islamabad state television. The Indian attack involved aircraft and ballistic missiles, some of which were intercepted by Pakistani missile defences, he added. The attack on Nur Khan, a base in the populous city of Rawalpindi, is believed to have triggered panic among civilians.

What Pakistan is calling "Operation Lead Wall" is now underway, with explosions reported in the city of Srinagar and at least two Indian air bases in Kashmir, a territory disputed by the two South Asian nuclear powers. Pakistani airspace is closed to civil aviation. Cyber ​​warfare is also underway against Indian civilian infrastructure, Pakistani state television PTV News reported.

The number of casualties in the violence this morning is not known. The latest episode of tension between India and Pakistan erupted on Wednesday, when Indian forces bombed nine targets in Pakistani territory, killing at least 31 people, in response to the massacre in late April of 25 tourists and a guide in Kashmir. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of involvement in the terrorist attack.