India Air strikes 2025 : Operation Sindoor .

India Air strikes 2025 .

On 7 May 2025, India conducted missile strikes on Pakistan codenamed Operation Sindoor. Pakistan said that Indian strikes targeted civilians (including mosques), and killed 9 Pakistani civilians, including a child. India said it targeted “terrorist infrastructure”. Pakistan retaliated against the Indian strikes. India said Pakistani strikes killed 3 Indian civilians.

The Indian strikes were a response to the 2025 Pahalgam attack in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir attributed to The Resistance Front that killed at least 28 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists. India accused Pakistan of supporting the attackers, though Pakistan denied the allegations. The operation escalated tensions in the 2025 India–Pakistan standoff, part of the broader Kashmir conflict. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the strikes an act of war and vowed to respond.

• Background .
  The Kashmir conflict, ongoing since 1947, has fueled multiple wars and skirmishes between India and Pakistan over the disputed region. On 22 April 2025, an attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, killed 26 civilians and was claimed by the Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba. India accused Pakistan of backing the attack, prompting diplomatic measures, including expelling diplomats and threatening to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. Both nations engaged in military posturing, with Pakistan testing ballistic missiles on 3 May 2025 and India conducting drills.
• Indian attacks in Pakistan and Kashmir .
  On 6 May 2025, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor, twenty-four attacks targeting six locations in Pakistani-administered Kashmir (Muzaffarabad and Kotli) and Pakistan’s Punjab province (Bahawalpur), i.e. across both the Line of Control and the international border. Pakistan’s Defense Minister said that Indian soldiers took prisoners and planes were shot down.

The Indian Ministry of Defence described the strikes as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory,” targeting terrorist infrastructure linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, with no Pakistani military facilities hit. Pakistan said India targeted innocent civilians, and that children were killed in the attacks.

The strikes, conducted without Indian aircraft entering Pakistani airspace, caused explosions and a power blackout in Muzaffarabad. Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, urged residents to stay inside their homes. Locals in Srinagar reported heavy fighter jet activity overhead.The Indian Army released a statement on Twitter, declaring “Justice is Served” with the hashtag #PahalgamTerrorAttack. The Indian military said that Pakistan fired into Bhimber Gali, a village in Kashmir.

Pakistan later clarified that no Indian soldiers had been taken as prisoners.

• Targets.
  The Indian Ministry of Defence described the strikes as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory,” targeting terrorist infrastructure linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, with no Pakistani military facilities hit. Pakistan said India targeted innocent civilians, and that children were killed in the attacks.

One of the locations hit by Indian attacks was Bilal mosque, Muzaffarabad, and Reuters published photos of the damage.

• Pakistani attacks in Kashmir.
  On 7 May 2025, Pakistan conducted missile strikes on Indian-administered Kashmir in response to the Indian missile strikes on Pakistan. According to Pakistan’s state media, the Pakistan Air Force shot down five or two Indian aircraft. The state media also claimed that an Indian brigade headquarters was destroyed in a retaliatory strike.

The Pakistan Army destroyed an Indian post in a missile strike in the Dudhnial sector along the Line of Control.

*  Casualties .

Indian attacks on Pakistan killed nine civilians and injured 38 others, according to Pakistani officials. Included in the casualties were three children who were killed inside the mosques that were struck with civilians inside.

Pakistani artillery fire killed three civilians inside Indian administered Kashmir, according to Indian officials.

• Military .
  According to Pakistani security forces, five Indian Air Force combat jets and a drone were shot down by the army. According to Indian authorities, a Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in Pampore.

The Guardian reported that an aircraft had crashed inside Indian-held Kashmir, near Srinagar.

• Aftermath .
  The airspace was closed and all flights were cancelled for 48 hours.

SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India halted flights in the region, while Air France and Lufthansa avoided Pakistani airspace.