Kashmir tensions: India strikes at Pakistan as Islamabad vows retaliation

India fired missiles at Pakistani territory early on Wednesday in a major escalation of tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals, as Islamabad vowed retaliation.

The Indian government said it had attacked nine sites, describing them as “precision strikes at terrorist camps” in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, days after it blamed Islamabad for a deadly attack on the Indian side of the contested region.

Pakistan’s army said three locations had been targeted, citing two in Pakistani-run Kashmir and one in Bahawalpur, a city in the country’s most populous province of Punjab, bordering India.

Loud explosions were heard in Pakistani-run Kashmir and Punjab.

“We will retaliate at the time of our choosing,” said Pakistani military spokesman Lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, calling the strikes a “heinous provocation”.

The Pakistani military said five sites were hit, including two mosques, and reported three deaths and 12 people injured.