Kashmir is one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints and is controlled in part by India and Pakistan but both countries claim it in its entirety.

The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over the mountainous territory that is now divided by a de-facto border called the Line of Control (LOC) since their independence from Britain nearly 80 years ago.

Tensions have been ratcheted up again after gunmen massacred 26 tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month, the deadliest assault on Indian civilians in recent years.

Today’s strikes are the most significant military action since 2019, when Indian jets conducted airstrikes on several targets inside Pakistan, after it blamed Islamabad for a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in the region.

India has long accused Pakistan of harboring militant groups that conduct attacks across the border, a charge Islamabad denies, and had vowed to retaliate against those they deemed responsible.