Australian PM vows ‘full force of law’ after arson attack at Melbourne synagogue
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Australia investigating ‘shocking’ arson attack at Melbourne synagogue
An unknown man entered the synagogue on Albert Street in East Melbourne at about 8pm on Friday and started a fire before fleeing the scene on foot. No one was hurt in the incident, as all 20 people inside the synagogue evacuated themselves through the rear of the building. The attack came just hours before two other incidents — a protest at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD and an early morning arson and vandalism in Greensborough. Police were working to determine whether the three incidents were linked. The prime minister Anthony Albanese condemned the “shocking acts’ and said antisemitism has no place in Australia. He pledged full federal support for Victorian authorities investigating the incident.
An unknown man entered the synagogue on Albert Street in East Melbourne at about 8pm on Friday and started a fire before fleeing the scene on foot, Victoria police said in a statement.
No one was hurt in the incident, as all 20 people inside the synagogue evacuated themselves through the rear of the building.
The attack came just hours before two other incidents — a protest at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD and an early morning arson and vandalism in Greensborough — prompting police to investigate whether the events are linked.
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Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese condemned the “shocking acts” and said antisemitism has no place in Australia.
He pledged full federal support for Victorian authorities investigating the incident, which occured on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening for spiritual reflection.
“Those responsible for these shocking acts must face the full force of the law, and my government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” the prime minister said.
A synagogue in Melbourne Australia was set on fire as Jewish families were celebrating Shabbat inside of the synagogue. The same can happen in Canada. This is the meaning of Globalize the Intifada. pic.twitter.com/umy1LHe6Id — Israel Now (@neveragainlive1) July 5, 2025
Police said firefighters attended the scene and extinguished the blaze, which was contained to the front entrance.
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“Police are still working to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the fire, including the motivation behind the incident,” the police said.
“There is absolutely no place in our society for antisemitic or hate-based behaviour,” the statement added.
The attack has not been declared a terrorist incident but arson was being treated very seriously, Victoria police commander Zorka Dunstan said.
“At this stage, we are not declaring this a terrorist incident; we will determine the intent of the persons involved to determine if it is terrorism,” officer Dunstan said.
This comes amid a spate of antisemitic incidents in Australia this year, with homes, schools, synagogues, and vehicles targeted by vandalism and arson —drawing condemnation from Israel, one of the country’s longstanding allies.
In another incident just hours later, a group of around 20 protesters stormed into an Israeli restaurant on Hardware Street in Melbourne’s CBD. Witnesses said the group shouted “Death to the IDF” — referring to the Israel Defence Forces — before entering the restaurant, Miznon.
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In a third incident on Saturday, Victoria Police said a group of people entered a business in Greensborough at around 4.30am and set fire to three cars. They also used spray paint to vandalise the vehicles.
Police were working to determine whether the three incidents were linked.
Israel says attacks on Iran are nothing compared with what is coming
Netanyahu vows to strike ‘every target of Ayatollahs’ regime’ Oman says Sunday’s US-Iran nuclear talks cancelled. Iranian media report attack hitting gas field, first to hit energy sector. Israel said it had attacked more than 150 targets. Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing at least three people in Israel, and sending Israelis into shelters as missiles and interceptors streaked across the sky. U.S. President Donald Trump has lauded Israel’s strikes and warned Iran of much worse to come. But both leaders described the events in the Middle East as “very alarming”, with Putin saying Israel’s operation should end as “Iran’s war in Israel” is “unbelievable” and “very, very dangerous” The U.N. Security Council has called the situation in the region a “state of emergency” and urged all sides to refrain from further action. The UN Security Council also called on all parties to show restraint and restraint in the face of the Israeli attack.
Netanyahu vows to strike ‘every target of Ayatollahs’ regime’
Host Oman says Sunday’s US-Iran nuclear talks cancelled
Iranian media report attack hitting gas field, first to hit energy sector
JERUSALEM/DUBAI, June 14 (Reuters) – Israel pounded Iran for a second day on Saturday and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its campaign would intensify, while Tehran called off nuclear talks that Washington had held out as the only way to halt the bombing.
A day after Israel wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command with a surprise attack on its old foe , it appeared to have hit Iran’s oil and gas industry for the first time, with Iranian state media reporting a blaze at a gas field.
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Netanyahu said Israel’s strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear programme possibly by years and rejected international calls for restraint.
“We will hit every site and every target of the Ayatollahs’ regime, and what they have felt so far is nothing compared with what they will be handed in the coming days,” he said in a video message.
In Tehran, Iranian authorities said around 60 people, including 29 children, were killed in an attack on a housing complex, with more strikes reported across the country. Israel said it had attacked more than 150 targets.
Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing at least three people in Israel. Air raid sirens sent Israelis into shelters as missiles and interceptors streaked across the sky.
Late on Saturday, Israel’s military said more missiles were launched from Iran towards Israel, and that it was also attacking military targets in Tehran. Iranian state television reported that Iran had launched missiles and drones at Israel.
Several projectiles were visible in the sky over Jerusalem late on Saturday. Air raid sirens, which warn of a potential missile or drone attack, did not sound in the city but were heard in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Israel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has lauded Israel’s strikes and warned Iran of much worse to come. He said it was not too late to halt the Israeli campaign, but only if Tehran accepted a sharp downgrading of its nuclear programme at talks with Washington which had been scheduled for Sunday.
Host Oman confirmed on Saturday that the next round of talks had been scrapped. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said holding talks was unjustifiable while Israel’s “barbarous” attacks were ongoing.
In the first apparent attack to hit Iran’s energy infrastructure, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at the world’s biggest gas field after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday.
The South Pars field, offshore in Iran’s southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran.
Fears about potential disruption to the region’s oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9% on Friday even though Israel spared Iran’s oil and gas on the first day of its attacks.
An Iranian general, Esmail Kosari, said Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers.
‘TEHRAN WILL BURN’
With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and urging Iran’s people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.
“If (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Item 1 of 24 A woman uses her phone at an impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Rishon LeZion, Israel, June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad [1/24] A woman uses her phone at an impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Rishon LeZion, Israel, June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
the main known facilities of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Tehran warned Israel’s allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.
However, 20 months of war in Gaza and a conflict in Lebanon last year have decimated Tehran’s strongest regional proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, reducing its options for retaliation.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Saturday, with the Kremlin saying Putin condemned Israel’s operation and Trump described events in the Middle East as “very alarming”. But both leaders said they do not rule out a return to negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end,” Trump wrote on social media.
NIGHT OF BLASTS AND FEAR IN ISRAEL AND IRAN
B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organization, said on Saturday that instead of exhausting all possibilities for a diplomatic resolution, Israel’s government had chosen to start a war that puts the entire region in danger.
Iran’s overnight fusillade included hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones, an Israeli official said. At least three people were reported killed and 174 injured, mostly lightly, in 17 strikes, including on Tel Aviv, that evaded interceptors.
In Tel Aviv, uncertainty lingered on Saturday over the possibility of another Iranian barrage after air raid sirens sent residents across the country rushing into shelters overnight as missiles and interceptors streaked across the sky.
Israeli-Canadian Jordan Falkenstein, 39, said he spent the previous night in his building’s shelter with all his neighbors.
“You can see that people have a sense of precaution this weekend. We’re not sure. We’re still trying to anticipate what will happen this evening. It’s better to play it safe,” he said.
Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin cautioned as night fell on Saturday that Iranian attacks were not over, urging the public to follow public safety guidelines.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country was at a historic crossroads. “This is not just our struggle. This is the struggle of all who seek peace, stability, and a hopeful future in the Middle East,” he said in a video statement.
In Iran, Israel’s two days of strikes destroyed residential apartment buildings, killing families and neighbours as apparent collateral damage in strikes targeting scientists and senior officials in their beds.
Iran said 78 people were killed on the first day and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children.
State TV broadcast pictures of a building flattened into debris, while slabs of concrete dangled from a neighbouring building.
“Smoke and dust were filling all the house and we couldn’t breathe,” 45-year-old Tehran resident Mohsen Salehi told Iranian news agency WANA after an overnight airstrike woke his family.
Israel sees Iran’s nuclear programme as a threat to its existence, and said the bombardment was designed to avert the last steps to production of a nuclear weapon.
Tehran insists the programme is entirely civilian and that it does not seek an atomic bomb. However the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported it this week as violating obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates, Angus McDowall and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff
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Pakistan says it is committed to truce with India, vows response to aggression
Pakistan says it remains committed to a truce with India agreed after four days of fighting. But it vows to respond with full resolve to any future aggression by New Delhi. India said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan and Indian Kashmir on Wednesday. Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it was behind the attack in the Himalayan region. Both countries have already reduced the strength of their embassies after relations nosedived after the April 22 attack. The two sides agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the U.S. and the United Nations. The United States said the ceasefire was a “big reason” why the countries stopped fighting on Monday, adding that it had “helped secure the peace and stability” in the region. The U.N. has said it will not intervene in the dispute unless the two sides agree on a long-term peace plan, which would include an end to the use of force by both sides in the Kashmir conflict. The UN has also said it would not intervene if the two countries agreed on a new peace plan.
Item 1 of 5 A man waves Pakistan’s flag as he along with others gather in support of Pakistan Army, day after the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 11, 2025. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Summary Pakistan commits to truce but vows full response to aggression
Modi reiterates tough stance during border air base visit
Both nations report civilian, military casualties from clashes
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, May 13 (Reuters) – Pakistan said on Tuesday it remained committed to a truce with India agreed after four days of intense fighting last week, but vowed to respond with full resolve to any future aggression by New Delhi.
The nuclear-armed neighbours halted their worst fighting in nearly three decades after agreeing to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States.
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Tuesday’s comments from Islamabad came in response to a speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the previous day that warned Pakistan New Delhi would target “terrorist hideouts” across the border again if there were new attacks on India, without being deterred by “nuclear blackmail”.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Islamabad categorically rejected Modi’s “provocative and inflammatory assertions” in the speech.
“At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation,” it said in a statement.
“Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability,” it said, promising full resolve in meeting any future aggression by its neighbour.
The two sides fired missiles and drones targeting each other’s military installations after India said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday in retaliation for an attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 Hindu tourists
Pakistan, which said the targets were all civilian, denies Indian accusations that it was behind the attack in the Himalayan region. Its military has said 40 civilians and 11 of its armed forces were killed in the attack.
India said at least five of its military personnel and 16 civilians died.
India said on Tuesday it had declared an official of the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata “for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status”.
Pakistan also declared a staff member at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad persona non grata “for engaging in activities incompatible with his privileged status”.
Each was given 24 hours to leave the country.
Both countries have already reduced the strength of their embassies after relations nosedived after the April 22 attack.
MODI REPEATS WARNING
Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan each rule part of Kashmir , but both claim it in full, having fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over it, along with several limited flare-ups, particularly in 1999 and 2019.
Earlier on Tuesday, Modi visited the Adampur air base near the border and repeated his warning to Pakistan in remarks to Indian Air Force personnel, with whom he posed for photographs.
“We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism,” Modi said, referring to India’s response in the event of another attack.
“We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive.”
Separately, the Indian foreign ministry said the issue of trade did not come up in talks with Washington regarding the tension with Pakistan.
The understanding to stop the fighting was reached directly with Islamabad after Pakistan’s military operations chief called his Indian counterpart and made the proposal, it added.
Pakistan has said it called India in response to a call from New Delhi on May 7, which the Indian military immediately followed its strikes on the “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the leaders of India and Pakistan were “unwavering”, and the United States had “helped a lot” to secure the ceasefire, adding that trade was a “big reason” why the countries stopped fighting.
India has said the military operations chiefs of both nations spoke by telephone on Monday, reiterating their commitment to halt firing and consider steps to reduce troops on the border.
Pakistan has not provided details of the call.
Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam in Islamabad, Shivam Patel and Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi; Writing by Tanvi Mehta, Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and YP Rajesh; Editing by Gareth Jones and Clarence Fernandez
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Germany’s Merz urges western unity on Ukraine on eve of peace talks
Merz says a dictated peace for Ukraine or a submission to the status quo achieved by Russian military forces is unacceptable. He vows to provide the financial means needed to build Germany’s conventional army up into Europe’s strongest. He was speaking a day before Ukrainian and Russian delegates may yet meet for peace talks in Istanbul, more than three years after the start of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. His coalition of conservatives and centre-left Social Democrats will reduce red tape, energy prices and corporate taxes in an ambitious bid to boost growth. Merz has publicly castigated U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration as an unreliable ally. He has promised to give Germany a bigger role on the global stage. His government will also invest up to 150 billion euros from the 500 billion euro fund for infrastructure he pushed through parliament in March before even taking office. The outcome of this war will determine whether law and order will continue to prevail in Europe and the world, Merz told lawmakers.
Summary Merz gives first major parliament speech since taking office
Peace talks between Ukraine, Russia could happen on Thursday
Merz says working to ensure West does not accept dictated peace
Lays out ambitious plans to boost growth in Europe’s top economy
Vows to ensure Germany has Europe’s strongest conventional army
BERLIN, May 14 (Reuters) – Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday urged the West not to be divided on Ukraine and vowed to provide the financial means needed to build Germany’s conventional army up into Europe’s strongest.
In his first major speech to parliament since taking office that laid out his government’s priorities, Merz said a dictated peace for Ukraine or a submission to the status quo achieved by Russian military forces was unacceptable.
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“We hope and are working hard to ensure that this clear stance is not only upheld throughout Europe but also by our American partners,” said Merz, who has promised to give Germany a bigger role on the global stage.
The veteran conservative was speaking a day before Ukrainian and Russian delegates may yet meet for peace talks in Istanbul, more than three years after the start of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
After winning elections in February, Merz publicly castigated U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration as an unreliable ally. In Wednesday’s speech he said it was “of paramount importance that the political West does not allow itself to be divided”.
Merz had last weekend travelled with his French, British and Polish counterparts to Kyiv where they declared that Russia would be hit by new punitive measures if it did not heed calls for a 30-day ceasefire within days.
That pledge failed to move Putin, who instead called for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15. U.S. President Donald Trump backed that call, undermining the European leaders’ efforts to show that Trump was firmly on board with their threat.
“This terrible war and its outcome will not only determine the fate of Ukraine,” Merz told lawmakers. “The outcome of this war will determine whether law and order will continue to prevail in Europe and the world, or whether tyranny, military force, and the sheer right of the strongest will prevail.”
Still, strengthening the long underfunded and neglected German military is a top priority as deterrence is the best defence, Merz said.
“The government will provide all the financial resources that the Bundeswehr needs in order to become the strongest conventional army in Europe,” he said.
Merz was blunt about Russia, accusing it of involvement in state-sponsored killings and poisoning in European cities, cyber attacks and the destruction of infrastructure, including undersea cables.
He was speaking as German prosecutors announced the arrest of three individuals for their suspected involvement in the shipment of exploding parcels, after a series of fires at European courier depots pointed to suspected Russian sabotage.
The growing closeness between Russia and China was also concerning, Merz added, noting Germany’s China policy would be embedded in its Indo-Pacific policy.
“Free navigation and secure trade routes are in our foreign policy and economic interest,” he said.
BOOSTING GROWTH
With Trump’s tariff plans threatening a third year of downturn in Europe’s largest economy, Merz said he aimed to avoid a protracted trade conflict with the United States and would help the EU agree as many trade deals as possible.
His coalition of conservatives and centre-left Social Democrats will reduce red tape, energy prices and corporate taxes in an ambitious bid to boost growth, he said.
It will also invest up to 150 billion euros from the 500 billion euro fund for infrastructure he pushed through parliament in March before even taking office.
“We have the strength to once again become a growth engine that the world looks upon with admiration,” he said to applause.
Despite immigration taking centre stage in his election campaign amid a surge in support for the anti-migrant, far-right Alternative for Germany, the issue was relegated to the end of his speech on Wednesday.
His government will increase border controls, turn back attempts at illegal entry and step up deportations, while acting in accordance with EU law, Merz said.
Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Matthias Williams, Additional Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Andreas Rinke; editing by Thomas Seythal, Toby Chopra and Hugh Lawson
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Pakistan vows retaliation after Indian strike over tourist deaths
Pakistan says at least 31 of its civilians had been killed and 46 wounded. India says it struck nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan. Pakistan vows to respond “at a time, place and manner of its choosing” India and Islamic Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both sides claim in full and control in part.”For the blatant mistake that India made last night, it will now have to pay the price,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address on state broadcaster PTV to the nation. “We have shown sensitivity by ensuring that no civilian population was affected in the slightest,” India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. The escalation comes at a fragile moment for Pakistan’s $350 billion economy, which is trying to shore up finances and make progress on the $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme of 2024. The Pakistan prime minister’s office said five Indian fighter jets and drones had been shot down, although this was not confirmed by India.
Companies India says it struck ‘terrorist’ sites in Pakistan
India says it had reports there could be more attacks
Pakistan says mosques, civilians hit, vows to respond
Heavy cross-border shelling by both sides
Reuters Live coverage of the latest developments
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan/NEW DELHI, May 7 (Reuters) – India hit Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missiles on Wednesday and Pakistan vowed to retaliate saying it shot down five Indian aircraft, in 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.
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The escalation comes at a fragile moment for Pakistan’s $350 billion economy, which recently emerged from an economic crisis with the government trying to shore up finances and make progress on the $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme of 2024.
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.
Pakistan said at least 31 of its civilians had been killed and 46 wounded, a military spokesperson said, and that India “had ignited an inferno in the region”. This included deaths from the strikes and border shelling.
Islamabad pledged to respond “at a time, place and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty”, emphatically rejecting Indian allegations it had terrorist camps on its territory.
“For the blatant mistake that India made last night, it will now have to pay the price,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address on state broadcaster PTV to the nation. “Perhaps they thought that we would retreat, but they forgot that…this is a nation of brave people.”
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told broadcaster Geo News that Islamabad would only strike Indian military targets and not civilians, in retaliation.
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.
“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.
In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, the Indian strike had 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 crumbled 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.
Map showing nine sites targeted by India in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on May 7, 2025.
‘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.
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. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the image.
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”.
Item 1 of 15 Smoke rises from Bilal Mosque after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro [1/15] Smoke rises from Bilal Mosque after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
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.
Sindoor is the Hindi language word for vermilion, a red powder that Hindu women put on the forehead or parting of their hair as a sign of marriage.
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, launchpads 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.
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.
RISK OF ESCALATION
The scale of the strikes went far beyond New Delhi’s response to previous attacks in Kashmir, it has blamed on Pakistan.
“Given the scale of the Indian strike, which was far greater than what we saw in 2019, we can expect a sizable Pakistani response,” said Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to see India and Pakistan “work it out. I want to see them stop, and hopefully they can stop now. And if I can do anything to help, I will be there”.
There were calls for restraint from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, China, which neighbours both India and Pakistan, and Russia as well as Britain.
Many people in both countries voiced anger and hostility.
“Pakistan has been testing our patience. The good thing is India is taking revenge,” said Kumar Ravi Shankar, a Delhi lawyer.
In Pakistan, businessman Umbreen Mahar said: “No one in today’s world wants to favour war. But if India continues to slander us and then attack, Pakistan has the right to retaliate and defend its sovereignty.”
Graphic: Graphics showing the military power of India and Pakistan
AIRLINES CANCEL FLIGHTS
Pakistan’s international bonds rose, reversing early losses, while the benchmark share index (.KSE) , opens new tab fell 2.2%, after opening nearly 6% lower.
Several airlines cancelled flights in areas of India and Pakistan due to closures of airports and airspace.
Reporting by Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Saeed Shah, Ariba Shahid in Pakistan, Shivam Patel, Tanvi Mehta, Sakshi Dayal, Surbhi Misra, Krishna Das in New Delhi, Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar, Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad, Kanishka Singh, David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alex Richardson; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Philippa Fletcher and Diane Craft
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