India strikes Pakistan over tourist killings, Pakistan downs Indian jets

India fired missiles into nine locations in Pakistani-controlled territory linked to an attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir as cross-border attacks escalated between the two countries on Wednesday.

Islamabad said six Pakistani locations were targeted, and that none of them were militant camps. At least 26 civilians were killed and 46 injured, a Pakistan military spokesperson said.

Indian forces attacked the headquarters of militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in "Operation Sindoor" operation, an Indian defence source told Reuters. "India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution," the Indian defence ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan said Indian missiles hit three sites and a military spokesperson told Reuters five Indian aircraft had been shot down, a claim not confirmed by India.

Islamabad called the assault a "blatant act of war" and said it had informed the UN Security Council that Pakistan reserved the right to respond appropriately to Indian aggression.

"All of these engagements have been done as a defensive measure," Pakistan military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said. "Pakistan remains a very responsible state. However, we will take all the steps necessary for defending the honour, integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan, at all cost."

The South Asian neighbours also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across much of their de facto border in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, police and witnesses told Reuters.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which both sides claim in full and control in part.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump called the fighting "a shame" and added, "I hope it ends quickly".

The State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to the national security advisers of both nations, urging "both to keep lines of communication open and avoid escalation".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum military restraint from both countries, a spokesperson said. China, which neighbours both India and Pakistan, also called for restraint.

The Pakistani army's shelling across the frontier in Kashmir killed seven civilians and injured 35 in the Indian sector of the region, police there said.

All schools in Pakistani Kashmir, the national capital Islamabad, and much of Indian Kashmir and the populous Pakistani province of Punjab were ordered closed on Wednesday in the aftermath of the strikes.