The Latest: India fires missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory after massacre of tourists

India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory early Wednesday, calling it retaliation for last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. Pakistan’s leader called it an act of war.

Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian aircraft, including three fighter jets that fell in India-controlled Kashmir and India's northern Punjab state. Pakistan says 31 people were killed, including women and children.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors in their worst confrontation since 2019, when they came close to war. India said its missiles struck infrastructure used by militants linked to last month's attack. Two missiles hit mosques.

India has accused Pakistan of backing the attack in Pahalgam, which Islamabad denies. The Kashmir region has been split between India and Pakistan since 1949 and is claimed by both in its entirety.

Here's the latest:

Trump calls the violence ‘so terrible’

U.S. President Donald Trump called the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan “so terrible" and urged both sides to stop the violence.

“My position is, I get along with both. I know both very well and I want to see them work it out," Trump said during an appearance in the Oval Office.

He added: “If I can do anything to help, I will be there.”

Pakistan says exchanges of fire continue

Pakistan’s military says exchanges of fire continue late Wednesday along the Line of Control, the de facto border between it and India in Kashmir.

Military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif condemned India’s deadly missile attack earlier in the day as “cowardly” and accused New Delhi of deliberately targeting non-military sites.

Sharif reported no casualties or losses among Pakistan’s forces and said all aircraft remain safe and operational.

Pakistani leader says deaths will be avenged

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is vowing that his country will avenge the 26 people his government says were killed by Indian airstrikes. He did not give details.

In a televised address, Sharif said India acted out of arrogance, and he praised Pakistani armed forces’ efforts “against a numerically superior enemy.”

The prime minister said he had attended the funeral of one person killed, a 7-year-old boy.

Pakistan's prime minister praises military response to Indian jets

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday commended Pakistan’s armed forces for their response to an attempted overnight incursion by Indian fighter jets, claiming that five Indian aircraft were downed after they released their payloads from Indian airspace.

In a speech to Parliament, Sharif said the Pakistan Air Force had been on high alert since India falsely tried to implicate Pakistan in the April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.

He said that though he offered an international probe into the attack, New Delhi did not respond to the proposal.

Sharif also claimed that on the night of April 29, Indian Rafale jets took off in a combat formation, but Pakistan successfully jammed their communications.

“The enemy couldn’t even understand what had happened to them” and the Indian jets turned back, Sharif said.

Think tank warned recently of India-Pakistan nuclear threat

India’s and Pakistan’s ownership of nuclear weapons has deepened international worries about the longstanding rivalry and hostility between the two neighbors. At a nuclear conference in Washington last month, Dame Louise Richardson, president of the Carnegie Corporation, a leading private supporter of nuclear security efforts, singled out the Pakistan-India nuclear threat as one of the gravest in the world.

While nuclear arms programs by the world’s leading economies get most of the attention, “if I were a betting person I would say that the odds are of a first new nuclear detonation occurring in one of the other areas, say, India-Pakistan,” Richardson said then.

India says its strikes on Pakistan were to avenge innocents

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Wednesday his government had exercised its “right to respond” while launching strikes in Pakistan to avenge the killings of innocent civilians on Indian soil last month.

“We killed only those who killed our innocents,” Singh said at a public program. “Our strike was well-planned and executed with precision and sensitiveness. It was restricted to terror targets and dismantling terror infrastructure.”

China says it is ready to play a role in easing tensions

China expressed “regret” over military action taken by India on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press briefing in Beijing.

“India and Pakistan are neighbors that cannot be moved, and both are also neighbors of China,” Lin said. “China opposes all forms of terrorism and calls on both India and Pakistan to prioritize peace and stability, remain calm and exercise restraint, and avoid actions that could further complicate the situation.

“We are willing to work with the international community to continue playing a constructive role in easing the current tensions,” he added.

Britain urges Pakistan and India to talk directly and show restraint

Britain is urging Pakistan and India to talk to one another over their soaring tensions, saying “nobody wins” from further escalation.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the U.K. is “engaging urgently with both countries … encouraging dialogue, de-escalation and the protection of civilians.”

“The U.K. government is urging India and Pakistan to show restraint and engage in direct dialogue to find a swift, diplomatic path forward," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.

He said Britain – which has millions of citizens of Indian or Pakistani heritage – “has close and unique relationships with both countries. I have made clear to my counterparts in India and Pakistan that if this escalates further, nobody wins.”

Britain is advising its citizens against traveling to the border area between India and Pakistan or to the contested Kashmir region.

Indian PM postpones trip to Norway, Croatia and the Netherlands

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has postponed his upcoming official trip to Norway, Croatia and the Netherlands amid rising tensions with Pakistan. His trip was originally scheduled to start next week.

Pakistan’s top political and military leaders condemn Indian airstrikes, reserve the right to respond

Pakistan’s top political and military leaders on Wednesday condemned Indian airstrikes that they said killed 26 people.

The National Security Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said in a statement that the Indian strikes were carried out “on the false pretext of the presence of imaginary terrorist camps” and deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure, including mosques.

“These unprovoked and unjustified attacks martyred innocent men, women and children,” the statement said.

Pakistan’s military responded to the strikes, the statement added, by downing five Indian fighter jets and surveillance aircraft.

The government said Pakistan reserves the right to respond “in self-defense, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing” and that the armed forces have been authorized to take “corresponding actions” to avenge what it called a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

Indian military says attack lasted 25 minutes, says it showed restraint

Col. Sofiya Qureshi, an Indian army officer, said the Indian missile strikes started at 1.05 am and lasted for about 25 minutes. She said no military installations were targeted.

These military strikes were designed “to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families,” she said.

Another officer, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, said the strikes were undertaken through “precision capability” so that there was “no collateral damage.”

“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in its response,” she said. “However, it must be said that the Indian armed forces are fully prepared respond to Pakistani misadventures if any that will escalate the situation.”

AP Photographer documents aircraft debris on school building in outskirts of Srinagar

Shortly after India said it fired missiles across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory, AP photojournalist Dar Yasin received reports of a burning aircraft in the outskirts of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It was still night and Yasin rushed to southern Wuyan village in Pampore area, where the incident occurred. At first, Indian forces did not allow him to reach the accident site. By the time he managed to find his way to the debris the sun was out. Dar saw few broken tree branches and mangled tin sheets of a school’s roof that was damaged by the aircraft’s impact and quicky began taking pictures. Dar said Indian forces did not allow him and other journalists to go near the debris. Later, local residents told him parts of the aircraft were also lying scattered some 500 meters away inside a mosque compound. Dar swiftly rushed to the second site and managed to get pictures of parts of the wreckage before Indian forces cordoned off the area. It is unclear whether the aircraft broke mid air or after falling on the ground. “Locals told me they saw a huge ball of fire emerging from the accident site and the wreckage was burning for more than an hours,” Dar said from the crash site. He said firefighters struggled to douse the resulting fires and worried onlookers captured the plane’s burning wreckage on their smartphones. Police and military officials later sealed off the area to clear the debris, Dar said.

Several Indian states hold security drills

Several Indian states will be conducting security drills on Wednesday, as fears of a wider conflict mount after India’s strikes in Pakistan.

The mock security drills were announced by India’s home ministry on Monday. The drills will include air raid warning sirens, evacuation plans, preparation for blackouts, and training people to respond in case of any “hostile attacks,” the ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan summons India’s chargé d’affaires called in for protest

Pakistan on Wednesday summoned India’s chargé d’affaires to lodge a strong protest over what it called “unprovoked Indian strikes at multiple locations” across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

In a statement, it said the strikes resulted in the deaths and injuries of several civilians, including women and children.

The Indian diplomat was told that “India’s blatant act of aggression constitutes a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty,” the statement said.

It said the Indian side was warned that such “reckless behaviour” poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability.

Third aircraft crashes in India’s northern Punjab state

A third aircraft fell in a farm field in India’s northern Punjab state, a police office told AP on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The officer did not provide further details.