India says it launched air strikes against militants in Pakistani territory, in a major escalation of tensions between the two countries.
The government said strikes targeted a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group in Balakot.
Pakistan said its jets had forced back the Indian planes and denied there were any casualties.
Relations between the countries were strained by a militant attack on Indian troops in Kashmir earlier this month.
India accuses Pakistan of allowing militant groups to operate on its territory and says Pakistani security agencies played a role in the suicide attack on 14 February, which was claimed by JeM and killed 40 Indian troops.
Pakistan denies any role and says it does not provide safe haven to militants.
Balakot is in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Residents there told BBC Urdu they were woken by loud explosions. Pakistan condemned the strike and said it would respond “at the time and place of its choosing”.
The strikes are the first launched across the line of control – the de facto border that divides India-administered Kashmir from Pakistan-administered Kashmir – since a war between the two countries in 1971.
Both India and Pakistan claim all of Muslim-majority Kashmir, but control only parts of it. The nuclear-armed nations have fought three wars and a limited conflict since independence from Britain in 1947 – and all but one were over Kashmir.
What does India say happened?
Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told a news conference that the strikes had killed a “large number” of militants, including commanders, and had avoided civilian casualties.
“Credible intel [intelligence] was received that JeM was planning more suicide attacks in India. In the face of imminent danger, a pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary,” he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not directly mention the air strikes when he addressed a political rally in Rajasthan later on Tuesday but he told cheering crowds: “I understand your enthusiasm and your energy. Today is a day we bow before our heroes.”
India is due to hold elections by the end of May.
In Srinagar city, in Indian-administered Kashmir, residents expressed concerns over the spike in tensions. “Whatever is happening between these two hostile neighbours, it’s us who are in the middle of this war theatre,” Shabir Aakhoon, a banker, said.
Local reporter Sameer Yasir says a heavy military build-up in the past three days has caused panic. Anticipating full-scale war, civilians have stockpiled food and crowded petrol pumps, triggering traffic jams in many places, he adds.
How has Pakistan responded?
Pakistan’s army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said the strikes caused no casualties. He tweeted that Pakistani jets were scrambled and forced the Indian planes to make a “hasty withdrawal”, dropping their payload in an open area.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan later convened an urgent meeting of national security chiefs and condemned “irresponsible Indian policy”.
“Once again [the] Indian government has resorted to a self-serving, reckless and fictitious claim,” a statement issued after the meeting said. “This action has been done for domestic consumption, being in an election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk.”
Mr Khan has summoned a special meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA) – the body that oversees Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal – to take place on Wednesday, officials said. BBC News
