Pakistan claims downing 5 jets after Indian air strikes kill 8, injure 35

Pakistan claimed shooting down five Indian jets on Wednesday after India claimed targeting nine "terrorist-training camps" in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir allegedly in response to a terror attack on April 22 in the Pahalgam area of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said that at least eight civilians, including a child, were killed, 35 others injured and two missing after India fired missiles at multiple locations.

"Altogether nine sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India had demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution," the Indian defense ministry said in a press release.

The airstrikes were carried out under "Operation Sindoor," which was dedicated to the women whose husbands were killed in Pahalgam. A total of 26 people were killed in the Pahalgam attack, which was described as the worst attack on tourists in the Indian-controlled Kashmir in past several decades. India said Pakistan-based militants were responsible, but Pakistan denied involvement. The incident led to escalating tensions between the two South Asian nations.

Pakistan condemned India's unprovoked and blatant act of war and violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. 

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif later told local media that Pakistan has shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation for overnight airstrikes.

The minister said the Indian military had vacated several forward posts along the Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir following "heavy retaliatory fire" from the Pakistani side.

In a statement, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said that the Indian Air Force violated Pakistan's sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting civilian population across international border in Bahawalpur and Sheikhupura districts in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, as well as Muzaffarabad, Bagh, and Kotli districts in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.