'They attacked mosques...everything is crushed': Pakistan eyewitnesses recount India's strikes
What's the story
Locals in Pakistan have reacted to India's 'Operation Sindoor,' which was carried out early Wednesday morning.
Speaking to Reuters, a local said that the first drone hit at around 12:45am, followed by three others.
"They attacked the mosques...everything is crushed," the local from Pakistan's Muridke said.
A Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist training center in Muridke was one of the targets India had targeted.
In a press briefing, India's Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said this base had trained Ajmal Kasab and David Headley.
Casualties reported
Pakistan responds to India's military strikes
India's missile attacks targeted "terrorist infrastructure" in nine locations throughout Pakistan's Punjab region and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
They come more than two weeks after a massacre of tourists in Kashmir by Pakistan-based terrorists.
Pakistan reported that 26 civilians were killed in Wednesday's strikes, while India claimed that 80-90 terrorists were neutralized.
PM Shehbaz Sharif has denounced the move as "an act of war."
"Pakistan has every right to give a robust response...and a strong response is indeed being given," Sharif said.
Twitter Post
Visuals from Pakistan
#WATCH | "4 drones came...panic everywhere", says local in Pakistan's Muridke, giving an eyewitness account of India's Operation Sindoor against terror targets
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2025
A local says, "At around 12:45 in the night, first one drone came, followed by three other drones, and they attacked… pic.twitter.com/BUsQ1h31RR
International response
Global leaders express concern over India-Pakistan military conflict
Pakistan has also claimed that it has downed five Indian aircraft.
While officials refused to confirm whether it was a military plane, witnesses said around midnight they heard a loud explosion followed by fighter jets flying overhead.
"It sounded like powerful thunder. When I looked outside, I saw a massive fireball," one local resident told The Guardian.
"Some people who had built shelters and bunkers have moved to them...None has seen such severe firings over two decades," another resident said.
India's stance
India defends military operation, denies targeting Pakistani military facilities
India defended its military operation in Pakistan as "focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature."
The Indian Ministry of Defense reiterated that no Pakistani military facilities were targeted in the strikes.
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said intelligence reports had suggested that more terror attacks like the Pahalgam incident were being planned against India.
"Thus, compulsion, both to deter and prevent..India exercised its right to respond to deter such cross-border terrorism," he explained.
Historical context
Kashmir conflict: A history of violence and military action
Kashmir has been a flashpoint for India-Pakistan conflict for decades.
Both countries claim the territory in its entirety, resulting in three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The divided region is among the most militarized places in the world, where several domestic militant groups have been demanding independence or merger with Pakistan.
Tensions have soared since India's government revoked the region's constitutional autonomy in 2019.