Latest Update - India launches strikes on Pakistan; Islamabad calls it ‘act of war’
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00:00India and Pakistan have been exchanging a barrage of fire across the line of control.
00:05At least 26 people have been killed after India launched a military operation
00:09and Pakistan administered Kashmir and inside Pakistan itself.
00:14And at least three people have been killed on the Indian side.
00:18India struck multiple targets overnight that it said were terror training sites.
00:22But Pakistan says mosques and civilians were hit, calling it an act of war.
00:27Charles Stratford reports.
00:29In the light of day, the damage assessment.
00:34Locals say this mosque in Pakistan administered Kashmir was destroyed by an Indian missile overnight.
00:41Other strikes hit targets deep into Pakistani territory.
00:46It has been destroyed in front of you.
00:48In the night, the entire neighbourhood was in fear and panic and the entire population fled.
00:53We strongly condemn this cowardly attack by India.
00:55India says it was targeting what it calls terrorist infrastructure.
01:01India, two weeks after an attack at a popular tourist destination, on its side of the disputed border, killed 26 people.
01:09India blamed Pakistan.
01:11Islamabad denied any involvement.
01:14Earlier this morning, as you would be aware, India exercised its right to respond and preempt,
01:20as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.
01:23Pakistan said India's response was unprovoked, an act of aggression that will not go unpunished.
01:37We were apprehensive that India will attack Pakistan without justifiable cause, and they have done so.
01:43And Pakistan has defended itself.
01:45There was a loud noise of 10 to 12 shells, and we saw them coming from above, but we don't know where in the city they hit.
01:59But the noise was very loud. The whole city was scared.
02:03Heavy shelling continued throughout the night and into the morning across the line of control.
02:08I was on duty. Suddenly shelling started, and I was injured in the shelling.
02:14The worst affected, as always, as often argued, are going to be the people in the region, the Kashmiris,
02:21who are caught between the competing and proprietorial and rival postures and attitudes of India and Pakistan.
02:30Pakistan's military says it shot down five Indian aircraft and a drone.
02:35India has yet to respond to those claims.
02:38Charles Stratford, Al Jazeera.
02:41I'm going to speak to our correspondent, Kamal Haider now.
02:43He joins us from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
02:46And Kamal, Pakistan saying that this is an act of war, but what else have authorities there said?
02:58We lost contact. I lost IFB.
03:01It looks like we have lost our connection with Kamal.
03:05If you can hear me, yeah.
03:06I can hear you now.
03:07I can hear you now. Sorry.
03:09Fantastic. Kamal, can you just give us an update on the latest that authorities there have said?
03:14Well, first of all, according to the Pakistani military spokesman, Emir Sharif, General Emir Sharif,
03:27the Pakistani aircraft that engaged those attacking Indian aircrafts never crossed the border into Indian airspace.
03:34They used BVR, which is beyond visual range missiles, and Pakistan is now claiming that at least five of the Indian fighters were shot down.
03:46That includes three Rafairs, according to the details they have released, one Sukhoi-30 and another MiG-29.
03:54Also, Pakistan has attacked across the border military positions across the border in Indian-administered Kashmir.
04:04The Pakistani prime minister right now is chairing a high-level meeting of the National Security Committee of the Cabinet.
04:13He's likely to address the nation after that.
04:15But across Pakistan, people were woken up late last night when that Indian airstrike unfolded.
04:23In a little while, the local television networks will be airing the funerals of those killed in last night's attack.
04:30Pakistan has also said that it has taken strong exception to Indian threats of what Pakistan calls water terrorism.
04:39And Pakistan says that that will be an act of war.
04:43Also, reports coming in, as you mentioned, the line of control is hot again.
04:49It should be remembered that after 2019, there was a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.
04:55That seems to be now over.
04:58And the important thing to note now is what happens next,
05:01because we also monitored the Indian military briefing just a little while ago,
05:07and they made no mention of the fact they did not refute Pakistan's claims that those aircrafts had indeed been lost.
05:16Pakistan, on the other hand, saying that all its fighter jets were able to return to base unharmed.
05:23And Kamala, Pakistan said it's going to respond in a time and way of its choosing.
05:27But what sort of response can we expect?
05:31Well, Pakistan has already responded.
05:36In fact, immediately after that, Indian incursion and attack across several locations,
05:43including Pakistani-administered Kashmir and also in the Punjab province,
05:48Sealkot, Murit K, as well as Bahawalpur.
05:53So, indeed, what has now happened is that the escalation ladder is something that everybody is watching
06:01to see what Pakistan's next reaction will be.
06:04But those attacks were carried out by the Pakistanis immediately after those Indian incursions.
06:10Pakistan claimed that some of the Indian positions raised the white flag along the line of control,
06:16which was a signal that they were surrendering.
06:19The Pakistani defence minister also said that a number of Indian soldiers had been taken prisoner.
06:26So, it will be important to see what comes out of India next.
06:30Is there going to be another attack by India after what happened last night?
06:34And whether this escalation ladder is something that is going to lead to a more dangerous situation
06:39between these two nuclear-armed countries?
06:42OK. Thank you so much, Kamal. Kamal Haida for us there in Islamabad.
06:47We're going to go to Neha Poonia now. She's a journalist who is in India's capital, New Delhi.
06:53Thanks for being with us here.
06:54The Indian Foreign Ministry claimed that these strikes were pre-emptive and precautionary
06:59because it had intelligence that further attacks were impending.
07:03But so far, has it provided any evidence of that?
07:06Well, India's Foreign Secretary has just held an extensive press briefing
07:16where he was accompanied by senior defence officials.
07:19And they've released video clips that show these airstrikes being conducted overnight on Tuesday.
07:27The operation, India says, lasted 25 minutes.
07:30They say that these targets were chosen based on credible intelligence inputs
07:35and that these were terror camps where attacks against India had been planned and directed from.
07:43Also said that it had credible information that further attacks against India were impending,
07:49which is why it was forced to act not just to deter but also to pre-empt any further attacks.
07:54And India, like you said, has defended these strikes, calling them non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.
08:03And India is also maintaining that unlike what Pakistan is claiming,
08:07no civilians were targeted, that this was simply an attack that targeted terror camps
08:13and no army infrastructure was attacked either.
08:16There were nine sites in total that were hit.
08:18And that the idea behind these targeted intelligence-based strikes was to ensure that no civilians were targeted.
08:26But we are now seeing some more developments.
08:29Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly cancelled his Europe trip on account of heightened tensions between the two countries.
08:37He's also holding a senior-level cabinet meeting discussing security matters with his cabinet.
08:44And we've also heard of the sort of situation on the ground in Indian-administered Kashmir,
08:52where the death toll from the cross-border firing we've seen overnight has now reached, has claimed nine lives.
09:00And we've also seen how border villages there, many locals talking about how it's been a heavy night of shelling,
09:07many of them leaving their homes, others resorting to the use of bunkers that have been inoperational for the last few years.
09:15But this is, of course, coming at a time when, you know, countries around the world are calling for restraint.
09:21Soon after that strike took place, India said it had briefed the U.S. government with the Indian National Security Advisor
09:28speaking to the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
09:32And it's interesting that the U.S. has not condemned India's strikes, experts say,
09:37but it is calling for dialogue between the two countries.
09:41I'm clear if that's going to happen at any point right now.
09:44OK, thank you so much, Neha.
09:46Neha Poonia for us there in New Delhi.
09:49Wahina Rabbani-Kar is the former foreign minister of Pakistan.
09:52She says in recent years, India has shown a complete disregard for international law.
09:58I'm stranded at Doha airport because we have to return from Pakistani airspace as it was closed due to India's aggression,
10:07unprovoked, unsubstantiated and clearly against international law.
10:13So from my vantage point where I'm sitting, I think we had been warning the world that India's impunity
10:22and its lack of adherence to international law or to the Security Council resolutions as it exhibited in 2016,
10:29unilaterally trying to change the status of Kashmir.
10:32And then 2019, when for the first time since 1977, since 1971,
10:38which was the last large scale war between India and Pakistan, to send Indian jets into Pakistan.
10:44I think it would be safe to say that these warning signs were all over the place.
10:49And now it has just upped the ante of being the aggressor and just operating with impunity,
10:57having crossed international border missile attacks into another nuclear armed state.
11:03That's almost playing with fire.
11:05As we know, Pakistan is retaliating, defensively retaliating to India's aggression.
11:13We have both the means and the capacity to do so.
11:16But what it shows to you is that India feels that it has the impunity to be the judge,
11:23jury executor, to attack at will, send missiles to nuclear armed state at will,
11:29because it seems to think that it can get away with it.