Pakistan publicly vows revenge for India's air strikes, but signals willingness to de-escalateBy Will Jackson with wiresTopic:Unrest, Conflict and War20m ago20 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 12:09amAn Islamic seminary in in Pakistan's Punjab province was one of the targets of the Indian strikes. (AP: Asim Tanveer)In short:Pakistan's prime minister has vowed to avenge those killed by Indian missile strikes on Wednesday, amid fears of a larger conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations.India said it targeted terrorist centres and training camps, but Pakistan said all targets were civilians.What's next?Pakistan's defence minister says the country reserves the right to retaliate against further strikes, but was ready to de-escalate.abc.net.au/news/pakistan-revenge-india-airstrikes-willing-deescalate/105266868Link copiedShareShare articleThe world is waiting with bated breath to see what happens next between India and Pakistan.After India hit Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missile strikes on Wednesday, Pakistan vowed to retaliate, saying it shot down five Indian aircraft.It has already been the worst clash in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours.India told more than a dozen foreign envoys in New Delhi that "if Pakistan responds, India will respond", fuelling fears of a larger military conflict in one of the world's most dangerous — and most populated — nuclear flashpoint regions.Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address to the nation overnight on state broadcaster PTV that India "will now have to pay the price"."Perhaps they thought that we would retreat, but they forgot that … this is a nation of brave people."We make this pledge, that we will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs," he said.Indian strikes amp up Kashmir tensionsPhoto shows Five Indian Air Force soldiers sit and look out the open back of a truck.India's strikes on Pakistan-controlled territory mark the worst fighting in six years between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and follow mounting tensions since a deadly militant assault in Kashmir, with the next steps likely to determine how serious things become from here.However, there are signs that the conflict may have reached a plateau.Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, told TRT World that security advisors from both countries had been in discussions since the air strikes."Yes, there has been contact between the two," he said.Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told the New York Times that Pakistan reserved the right to strike if India mounted further attacks but was ready to de-escalate.He said his country had already retaliated by shooting down the aircraft and would refrain from further action if India did the same."Restraint is still being applied," Mr Asif said. "But if the same situation arises tonight, the situation could flare up very easily."He said he did not "foresee any risk, at the moment" of the conflict escalating to nuclear war.Mr Asif also said Pakistan would welcome United States efforts to defuse the crisis.US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he wanted the conflict to "stop now", saying, "If I can do anything to help, I will"."It's so terrible," he said."My position is, I get along with both. I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop, and hopefully, they can stop now."If I can do anything to help, I will be there," he added.Loading YouTube content'An inferno in the region'India said it struck nine "terrorist infrastructure" sites, some of them linked to an attack by Islamist militants that killed 25 Hindu tourists and one local in Indian Kashmir last month.At least 31 of Pakistan's civilians had been killed and 46 wounded, a Pakistan military spokesperson said, adding that India "had ignited an inferno in the region". This included deaths from the strikes and border shelling.The Indian strikes included Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, for the first time since the last full-scale war between the old enemies more than half a century ago.A satellite shows air-strike damage at the Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah mosque in Pakistan. (AP: Maxar Technologies)"The targets we had set were destroyed with exactness according to a well-planned strategy," India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. "We have shown sensitivity by ensuring that no civilian population was affected in the slightest."Islamabad said none of the six locations targeted in Pakistan were militant camps.Fifty-seven commercial aircraft were in the air over Pakistan when India attacked, endangering thousands of lives, the spokesperson said, adding they included airlines of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Thailand, South Korea and China.Pakistan claims women and children were among those killed by India's air strikes. (AP: KM Chaudary)In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, the Indian strike badly damaged a mosque-seminary in the heart of the city. Five missiles killed three people in the two-storey structure, which also had residential quarters, locals said.Reuters journalists saw the roof and walls of the concrete building crumble under the impact of the strikes and household items scattered on the first floor.An Indian source said the mosque was actually a "terrorist camp", which Pakistan denies. Pakistan has said all targets were civilians.Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both sides claim in full and control in part.'Operation Sindoor'The Pakistan prime minister's office said five Indian fighter jets and drones had been shot down, although this was not confirmed by India. The Indian embassy in Beijing called reports of fighter jets downed by Pakistan "disinformation".Local government sources in Indian Kashmir told Reuters three fighter jets had crashed in separate areas of the Himalayan region overnight and their pilots had been hospitalised. Indian defence ministry officials did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.Pakistan says it has shot down several Indian planes. (AP: Dar Yasin)Images circulating on local media showed a large, damaged cylindrical chunk of silver-coloured metal lying in a field at one of the crash sites but the authenticity of the image could not be immediately verified.Indian forces attacked facilities linked to Islamist militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, two Indian military spokespeople told a briefing in New Delhi, in what New Delhi called "Operation Sindoor".Jaish said 10 relatives of its leader, Masood Azhar — who was released from an Indian jail in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages from a hijacked Indian Airlines plane — were killed.India had earlier said two of three suspects in the tourist attack were Pakistani nationals, without detailing any evidence. Pakistan has denied any links to the attack.Wednesday's strikes used precision weapons to target "terrorist camps" that served as recruitment centres, launch pads and indoctrination centres and housed weapons and training facilities, Indian military spokespeople said.Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, the top official in its external affairs ministry, said the strikes were to pre-empt further attacks on India.Mr Misri briefed 13 foreign envoys in New Delhi on the strikes, an Indian source familiar with the developments said."India made it clear that if Pakistan responds, India will respond," the source said.The neighbours also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across their de facto border in Kashmir, with 13 civilians killed and 43 wounded on the Indian side and at least six killed on the Pakistani side, officials there said.ABC/ReutersPosted 20m ago20 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 12:09amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top Stories'He was that toxic': 600 unused posters tell the story of Dutton's failed campaignTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows Backlit photo of a Dutton press conference, his silhouette centred in front of a microphoneAustralia's best sports rights in the hands of a Soviet-born, former oil tycoonTopic:Media IndustryWoman under police guard after house fire that killed three childrenTopic:FiresPhoto shows House fire Harristown'Offensive': PM unleashes on ousted Greens MPTopic:Government and PoliticsPhoto shows A composite image of two men wearing suits sitting in the House of Representatives.The election result makes the nuclear fight even tougher for the CoalitionDAnalysis by David SpeersPhoto shows PETER DUTTON SPEERS COLUMN 1Popular now'Children at the grown-ups' table': Liberal insiders reveal a catastrophic campaignTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows Backlit photo of a Dutton press conference, his silhouette centred in front of a microphone'Offensive': PM unleashes on ousted Greens MPTopic:Government and PoliticsPhoto shows A composite image of two men wearing suits sitting in the House of Representatives.Australia's best sports rights in the hands of a Soviet-born, former oil tycoonTopic:Media IndustryRelated topicsAsiaIndiaJammu and KashmirPakistanTerritorial DisputesTerrorismUnited StatesUnrest, Conflict and WarWorld PoliticsTop Stories'He was that toxic': 600 unused posters tell the story of Dutton's failed campaignTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows Backlit photo of a Dutton press conference, his silhouette centred in front of a microphoneAustralia's best sports rights in the hands of a Soviet-born, former oil tycoonTopic:Media IndustryWoman under police guard after house fire that killed three childrenTopic:Fires'Offensive': PM unleashes on ousted Greens MPTopic:Government and PoliticsThe election result makes the nuclear fight even tougher for the CoalitionDAnalysis by David SpeersJust InYoung skipping stars take sport to next level at world championshipsTopic:Feel Good4m ago4 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 12:26amWitness testimony continues as Erin Patterson's murder trial resumes LIVE14m ago14 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 12:16amPakistan vows revenge for air strikes, but signals willingness to de-escalateTopic:Unrest, Conflict and War20m ago20 minutes agoThu 8 May 2025 at 12:09amMining town locals say politicians should 'keep talking' about nuclearTopic:Nuclear Energy1h ago1 hours agoWed 7 May 2025 at 11:01pmMore Just InBack to top