India-Pakistan Tensions Escalate after Air Strikes, Dogfight over Kashmir

India launched strikes on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday.

The military confrontation included what a senior Pakistani security source described in an interview with CNN as the “largest and longest” dogfight in recent aviation history, according to Newsbreak.

According to the source, an estimated 125 fighter jets engaged for over an hour, exchanging missiles at distances up to 160 kilometers (100 miles).

Pakistan claims to have downed five Indian jets during the encounter.

Both countries reportedly avoided sending pilots deep into enemy territory, recalling the 2019 incident when an Indian pilot was captured and paraded on Pakistani television.

"Neither side wanted a repeat of that humiliation," the source told CNN.

The source also said Indian jets had to make multiple attempts to hit targets, while Pakistani officials worked to evacuate civilians from likely target zones, minimizing casualties.

India's Defense Ministry said the strikes hit at least nine sites used to plan attacks against Indian interests.

Two mosques were among the structures hit, according to Pakistani officials.

Pakistan reported 31 fatalities, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab province.

Islamabad called the attack an act of war and vowed retaliation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated, “We will avenge our dead,” without specifying measures.

India described the strikes as retaliation for last month’s massacre of 26 Indian tourists in Kashmir, mostly Hindu men, in an attack it blames on the group Kashmiri militants.

Islamabad denies any involvement in the massacre.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which remains divided but claimed in full by both nations.

Following the recent violence, both countries expelled each other's diplomats, sealed borders, and closed airspace.

India also suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.