India launches airstrikes in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir

Pakistani troops watch Indian troops in Kashmir
(Image credit: Sajjad Qayyum/AFP/Getty Images)

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."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

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.