8 killed, 25 injured as desperate Pakistan fires at civilian areas after India's Operation Sindoor

Eight civilians were killed and 25 injured after Pakistani troops carried out heavy cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Karnah area of Kupwara district early on Wednesday.

This came just two hours after India launched air strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

“Three innocent civilians lost their lives in indiscriminate firing/shelling. The Indian Army is responding in a proportionate manner,” the Indian Army said in a statement. Heavy artillery exchange is still ongoing along the LoC, according to sources.

Officials said Pakistan violated the ceasefire agreement by firing shells at Indian positions. The Indian Army is retaliating strongly. They added that residents of Karnah have taken shelter in underground bunkers, and the exchange of fire was continuing at the time of the latest reports.

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In response to the deadly Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 people, the Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Bahawalpur, a known stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammad group.

The strikes were conducted under ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Defence Ministry said in a statement issued at 1:44 am, describing the action as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the strikes as an “act of war” and said Pakistan reserves the right to respond appropriately.

In a post on ‘X’ in Hindi shortly after the strikes, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said: “Long live Mother India! (Bharat Mata Ki Jai)”.