India Strikes Pakistan After Kashmir Attack, Raising Fears of War

The Indian military said early Tuesday it had launched strikes against Pakistan in retaliation for last month’s militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.

May 6, 2025 at 5:45 p.m. EDT

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard along a street in Srinagar on May 4, 2025. Tensions between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals have soared since India accused Pakistan of backing a shooting that killed 26 civilians on the Indian side of the disputed territory on April 22. (Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP) (Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images)

By Shaiq Hussain, Karishma Mehrotra and John Hudson, Washington Post

ISLAMABAD — The Indian military said early Tuesday it had launched strikes against Pakistan in retaliation for last month’s militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, putting the nuclear-armed neighbors in direct conflict for the first time in six years.

India’s armed forces said it targeted nine sites “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.” The statement said no Pakistani military facilities were hit, characterizing the attack as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature.”

But the strikes were swiftly condemned by Pakistan. “India has shamelessly attacked the civilian population, and the attack will be answered accordingly,” Pakistani defense minister Khawaja Asif said on national television.

Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told local media that Pakistan would give a “befitting response” at the time and place of its choosing. No Indian warplanes had entered Pakistan airspace, he added.

“Those cowards attempted to strike from within their own boundaries,” Asif said. “If they come face-to-face with us, we will settle the score.”

Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said five sites had been hit: Ahmedpur East and Muridke in Pakistan and Kotli, Bagh, Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked dangerously in the aftermath of an April 22 attack by militants in a popular tourist area in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six people were killed, most of them civilians. India’s government said the attack had “linkages” to Pakistan, which Islamabad has denied.

In 2019, after another militant attack in Kashmir, India carried out strikes in Pakistan, followed by a brief aerial battle along the Line of Control, which separates Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. A fragile ceasefire was reached in 2021 and had held until now.

The Trump administration had urged the two countries to de-escalate the situation, but New Delhi made clear it was poised to retaliate. In an April 30 phone call, India’s minister of external affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Pakistan “must pay a price” and that India would strike its neighbor soon, said two diplomats familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

Jaishankar said it would be up to Pakistan to decide whether to respond to the Indian counterattack or let that be the end of it, the diplomats said. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio encouraged Jaishankar to work with his Pakistani counterpart to “de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security.”

That same day, the diplomats said, Pakistani officials told Washington that they did not direct the attacks in Kashmir and urged the United States to lead an international investigation into the incident. The State Department did not say if it would support such an investigation, but experts said it was unlikely, especially after Tuesday’s strikes.

“Because both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons, any military confrontation is dangerous, no matter how limited the use of force,” said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst based in Washington.

“Neither country has any interest in a hot war … but one shouldn’t be complacent about the risks, especially given the possibility of miscalculations.”

Mehohtra reported from New Delhi and Hudson from Washington.