India launches airstrikes in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir
On Tuesday, Indian fighter jets dropped bombs in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, killing a "very large number" of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including senior commanders, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said. "The strike avoided civil casualties," and struck the terrorist group's "biggest training camp" in the Balakot region of Kashmir, on the edge of the part of the divided region that Pakistan controls. Both nuclear-armed nations claim the entire mountainous region and have fought two wars over it; these were the first airstrikes to cross the line of control since the last war, in 1971.
The airstrikes were in retaliation for a Feb. 14 bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir; JeM claimed responsibility for that suicide bombing, the deadliest such attack since a Kashmir insurgency broke out in 1989. "Credible intel was received that JeM was planning more suicide attacks in India," Gokhale said. "In the face of imminent danger, a pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary."
Before India confirmed striking inside Pakistan's part of Kashmir, Pakistani military spokesman Maj. Gen Asif Ghafoor had said Pakistan scrambled jets to intercept the Indian aircraft, and the Indians "released payload in haste." Balakot police chief Saghir Hussain Shah told The Associated Press that based on his team's assessment of the mostly deserted wooded area, "there are no casualties, there are no damages on the ground because of the dropping of the bombs."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spread to Africa
The Explainer Ukraine is attempting to strengthen its alliances on the continent to counter Russia's growing presence
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published