A junior minister in India says the country launched an airstrike in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir targeting “terror camps,” an apparent response to a suicide attack earlier this month that killed 40 Indian troops in the disputed territory.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tweeted Tuesday that the air force “carried out aerial strike early morning today at terror camps across the LoC and Completely destroyed it.” The Line of Control separates Pakistani and Indian forces in Kashmir.
Pakistan said earlier that Indian aircraft crossed into its territory and dropped bombs “in haste” near Balakot, on the edge of Pakistani-ruled Kashmir. It said there were no casualties.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the Cabinet Committee on Security Tuesday. No statement was issued after the meeting, but Human Resources Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters: “This was a necessary step by the air force. The whole country is behind the armed forces.”
Tensions have soared between the two nuclear-armed rivals since the Feb. 14 attack on Indian troops, which was claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group. It was the deadliest such attack since the Kashmir insurgency began in 1989. Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety and have gone to war twice over it.
