india strikes pakistan and moves to restrict water flow after kashmir attack
new delhi says the airstrikes targeted militant camps in retaliation for a deadly assault that killed 26 civilians in indian-administered kashmir.
India has launched air and missile strikes on Pakistani territory and announced it will block the flow of key river waters into Pakistan, dramatic moves that deepen the worst crisis between the two nuclear powers in years.
Early Wednesday, Indian forces targeted nine sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in what New Delhi called a “focused” retaliation for a recent massacre of Indian civilians in Kashmir. The operation, dubbed "Sindoor", was aimed at what India says were militant camps planning attacks against its citizens.
Pakistan says the strikes killed at least eight people, including a child, and injured dozens more. Among the targets was a mosque in Punjab province, where a family was reportedly caught in the blast. In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, locals described power outages and chaos as explosions hit residential areas.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the strikes “cowardly” and warned of reprisal. "We will respond with strength. This was an act of war," he posted on social media. Pakistan’s military later claimed it had downed three Indian jets and begun retaliatory strikes, though India has not confirmed those losses.
But the fallout hasn’t stopped at missiles. Just hours after the strikes, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly declared that India would no longer allow water from its rivers to flow across international borders without restrictions.
“India’s water will flow for India’s benefit,” Modi said, without naming Pakistan directly. The announcement comes two weeks after India formally suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, a landmark 1960 agreement that survived two wars and regulated the sharing of rivers between the two countries.
The rivers at stake, including the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, are essential for Pakistan’s agriculture, with up to 80% of its farms depending on those flows. Pakistani leaders have long warned that interfering with the water supply would be treated as an existential threat.
“This is an act of aggression,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, accusing India of weaponizing a vital resource. Officials warned that any attempt to halt water flows would have severe consequences.
Experts say it may take years before India can fully redirect the water, given the need for expanded storage and dam infrastructure. But the political message is that India is pressing every lever it can to punish Pakistan after the April 22 Kashmir attack, which killed 26 civilians. India accuses Pakistani-backed militants of carrying out the assault, claims Islamabad has denied.
Along the border, schools are closed, hospitals are on alert, and artillery fire continues to echo across the Line of Control. The U.N. has called for restraint. “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” Secretary-General António Guterres said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department urged both sides to step back. “We continue to urge Pakistan and India to work towards a responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional stability in South Asia,” said spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
But on the ground, the crisis is moving fast. Treaties are collapsing. And two nuclear-armed neighbors are once again standing at the edge.
This is a developing story.