India says it launched air strikes against Kashmir militants in Pakistani territory after a suicide bombing earlier this month that killed 46 Indian soldiers.
A top Indian minister said strikes targeted a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group in Balakot.
Pakistan said it scrambled fighter planes in response.
The move represents an escalation of hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
It is the first air strike launched across the line of control – the border that divides India-administered Kashmir from Pakistan-administered Kashmir – since a war between the two countries in 1971.
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.
The latest incident follows the suicide attack on an Indian security convoy in Pulwama, in Indian-administered Kashmir, earlier this month.
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Pakistan’s military confirmed that Indian jets flew over its territory but said they caused no damage.
Spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted: “Indian Air Force violated Line of Control. Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled. Indian aircrafts gone back. Details to follow.”
On 14 February, 46 Indian paramilitary police were killed in a militant operation there. It was the deadliest attack on Indian forces in Kashmir for decades.
The assault was claimed by Pakistan-based JeM, and prompted a spike in tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
Pakistan denied involvement, while India said its neighbour had had a “direct hand” in the attack, and accused it of providing sanctuary to the Kashmir militants.
Both India and Pakistan claim all of Muslim-majority Kashmir, but control only parts of it. The nations have fought three wars and a limited conflict since independence from Britain in 1947 – and all but one were over Kashmir.
