Pakistani state television said Saturday that "retaliatory attacks" were underway after India fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan. State media reported that "multiple locations in India are being targeted in retaliatory attacks."
The same official source added that the military operation destroyed a BrahMos missile storage site in Beas and the Pathankot and Udhampur air bases in India.
For his part, Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Sharif said in a televised address early Saturday morning that India had fired missiles at three Pakistani air bases inside the country, but most of them were intercepted.
The spokesman confirmed that all Pakistan Air Force assets were safe, adding that some Indian missiles also hit eastern Punjab in India.
The army spokesman said that the missiles fired by India targeted the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, the Murree airbase in Chakwal, and the Rafiqi airbase in Jhang district of eastern Punjab province.
Sharif continued that India, as part of its "continued blatant aggression," has recently launched air-to-ground missiles from its fighter jets, adding, "According to the information available so far, all Pakistan Air Force assets are safe."
Earlier, a Pakistani military spokesman said that India had fired ballistic missiles that landed inside its territory. He announced this in a surprise statement broadcast on state television after midnight: "I would like to inform you of the shocking news that India has fired six ballistic missiles from Adampur, one of which landed in Adampur and the remaining five fell in the Amritsar district of Punjab, India."
In this context, Reuters quoted an Indian military source as saying, "Indian air operations are currently underway in Pakistan," and Indian media reported that six explosions occurred in the city of Srinagar, which is under Indian administration in the Kashmir region.
Reuters also reported that several explosions were heard in the cities of Amritsar and Jammu. According to the same agency, Indian air defenses intercepted objects during a power outage following the explosions in Jammu.
The Associated Press reported that "strong explosions were heard Saturday in several locations in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir," adding that media outlets did not disclose details, and it is not yet clear which military sites in India were targeted.
On May 6, India launched missile strikes against targets inside Pakistan, including the Azad Kashmir (Afghan Kashmir) region under Islamabad's control, in retaliation for an April 22 attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
New Delhi announced that it had targeted nine sites it said belonged to "terrorist" organizations, while Pakistan responded that the attacks hit six civilian sites, killing 33 people and wounding 62 others.
For its part, the Pakistani Armed Forces announced that they had shot down five Indian warplanes during the escalation, while New Delhi has not issued any official confirmation of this.
