ISLAMABAD (AP) — India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, killing at least 19 people including a child, in what Pakistan's leader called an act of war.

India said it struck infrastructure used by militants linked to last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.

Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian fighter jets in retaliation as two planes fell onto villages in India-controlled Kashmir. At least three civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling, the Indian army said in a statement.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since the attack, which India has blamed Pakistan for backing. Islamabad has denied the accusation.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday’s airstrikes and said the “deceitful enemy has carried out cowardly attacks” and that his country would retaliate.

“Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,” Sharif said.

Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Security Committee for Wednesday morning.

Exchanges raise threat of war

South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said it was one the highest-intensity strikes from India on its rival in years and that Pakistan’s response would “surely pack a punch as well.”

“These are two strong militaries that, even with nuclear weapons as a deterrent, are not afraid to deploy sizeable levels of conventional military force against each other,” Kugelman said. “The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly.”

Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement late Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum military restraint from both countries.

“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the statement read.

Indian politicians from different political parties lauded the strikes. “Victory to Mother India,” India’s defense minister, Rajnath Singh, wrote on X.

India’s main opposition Congress party called for national unity and said it was “extremely proud” of the country’s army. “We applaud their resolute resolve and courage,” Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.

India's army said the operation was named “Sindoor,” a Hindi word for the bright red vermillion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair, in a reference to the women who saw their husbands killed in front of them.

Scenes of panic and destruction

The missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, said Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif.

At least 19 people were killed and 38 injured, according to officials.

India’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.”

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint."

Pakistani officials said the strikes hit at least two sites previously tied to banned militant groups.

One hit the Subhan Mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, killing 13 people including a child, according to Zohaib Ahmed, a doctor at a nearby hospital.

The mosque is adjacent to a seminary that once served as the central office of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group outlawed in 2002. Officials say the group has had no operational presence at the site since the ban.

Muhammad Sabir, who lives nearby, said he heard three or four explosions and then ran to a nearby field with his family and laid down.

Another missile hit a mosque in Muridke, damaging its structure. A sprawling building located nearby served as the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba until 2013, when Pakistan banned the group and arrested its founder.

The attack in Kashmir was claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself Kashmir Resistance.

In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad said he heard several explosions as the blast ripped through houses and saw people running in panic. Authorities immediately cut power to the area.

Later, locals inspected the damage to their homes in the aftermath of the missile attacks, rubble and other debris crunching underfoot.

People took refuge on the streets and in open areas, fearful of what might happen. “We were afraid the next missile might hit our house,” said Mohammad Ashraf.

Authorities in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir have declared an emergency in the region’s hospitals.

Pakistan shut schools in Kashmir and Punjab province after the missile strikes. It had earlier closed seminaries in Kashmir in anticipation of an attack by India.

India hit by shelling as planes fall on villages

Along the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there were heavy exchanges of fire.

The Indian army said three civilians were killed when Pakistani troops “resorted to arbitrary firing,” including gunfire and artillery shelling, across the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries, and their international border. It said it was “responding in a proportionate manner.”

Shortly after India’s strikes, aircraft fell in two villages in India-controlled Kashmir.

State-run Pakistan Television, quoting security officials, said the country’s air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation but provided no additional detail. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan’s claim. Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has said Indian forces had launched the strikes from inside Indian airspace.

Debris from a plane was scattered across Wuyan village in the Pampore area in the outskirts of the region's main city, including in a school and a mosque compound, according to Srinagar police and residents. Firefighters struggled for hours to douse the resulting fires.

“There was a huge fire in the sky. Then we heard several blasts also,” said Mohammed Yousuf Dar, a Wuyan resident.

Another aircraft fell in an open field in the village of Bhardha Kalan near southern Akhnoor town, close to the Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir shortly after the strikes.

Village resident Sachin Kumar told The Associated Press that he heard massive blasts followed by a huge ball of fire.

Kumar said he and and several other villagers rushed to the scene and found two pilots with injuries. Both were later taken away by the Indian army.

Flights disrupted

Ten flights between Taiwan and Europe were disrupted or canceled due to the fighting, according to airport authorities in Taiwan.

Pakistan said India's strikes posed a significant threat to commercial air traffic.

Meanwhile, authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir shut Srinagar city’s airport for civilian flights following directions from the Indian air force, senior airport official said Javed Anjum said.

Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir also closed all schools and other educational institutions in at least seven border areas and the area around Srinagar airport, officials said.

India speaks to US

The Indian Embassy in Washington said in a statement that national security advisor Ajit Doval spoke with U.S. National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the strikes. The embassy said “India has credible leads, technical inputs, testimony of survivors” that point towards “the clear involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in the attack.”

Indian officials said the armed forces had used precision strike weapon systems to carry out the strikes, targeting the headquarters of militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke.

China called on restraint from both sides Wednesday morning following India’s strike into Pakistan.

“China expresses regret over India’s military actions this morning and is concerned about the current developments. China opposes all forms of terrorism,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement. “We call on both India and Pakistan to prioritize peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the situation.”

Beijing is the largest investor in Pakistan by far, with a $65 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project that spans across the country. China meanwhile also has multiple border claims disputed with India, with one of those claims in the northeastern part of the Kashmir region.

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Saaliq and Roy reported from New Delhi, and Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Associated Press writers Ishfaq Hussian in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan; Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan; Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan; and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this story.