Mapped: Where India struck Pakistan territory with deadly pre-dawn airstrikes

Indian military claims to have hit nine facilities allegedly linked to militant groups

India said it had conducted precision strikes in Pakistan in an overnight military operation, days after a terrorist attack in Kashmir left 26 people dead and escalated tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for the 22 April attack in the restive Himalayan region, which both countries claim in whole but hold only in part.

The targets of the nighttime strikes, Indian officials claimed on Tuesday, were nine facilities allegedly linked to proscribed militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif called the Indian strikes an "act of war" and said Islamabad reserved the right to "give a strong response".

The Pakistani military claimed its air defences shot down five Indian fighter jets involved in the strikes. The two militaries also exchanged fire along the Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, causing civilian casualties on the Indian side, local media reported.

India claimed its military had carefully selected strike targets in Pakistan to avoid hitting civilian and military infrastructure. The targets were chosen based on intelligence assessments identifying them as operational or training hubs for militants.

The locations spanned from Bahawalpur in the south to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, in the north.

The targets included Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur which India claimed was linked to the Jaish leadership, alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters Markaz Taiba in Muridke, and two alleged hubs of cross-border terrorism in Muzaffarabad and Kotli.

The Indian air force reportedly used Rafale fighters armed with SCALP cruise missiles and precision bombs to strike the targets. Indian officials described the mission as "focused and non-escalatory", with the narrow objective of dismantling terrorist capabilities without provoking a broader conflict.

Pakistani officials reported at least 31 casualties, including women and children, and damage to civilian infrastructure, though this could not be independently verified.

The Pakistani military said it had responded with "measured deterrence" and denied the existence of active militant camps at the targeted sites.

The overnight operation was the most expansive military action by India against Pakistan since the 2019 Balakot airstrikes, which were carried out in response to a militant attack on paramilitary soldiers in Kashmir.