UPDATE - Pakistan giving 'befitting reply' to 'act of war' imposed by India: Premier Sharif

ADDS PAKISTAN APPROACHING UN SECURITY COUNCIL

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said early Wednesday that India's strikes on Pakistani cities and Pakistan-administered Kashmir were a "cowardly attack" and that Islamabad was giving a “befitting reply” to the “act of war" by New Delhi.

The "Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy very well," Sharif said in a statement.

“The enemy will never be allowed to succeed in his nefarious objectives,” he added.

Earlier, India said it launched missile strikes targeting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan military spokesperson Lt Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said India fired missiles on the cities of Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh, Ahmadpur Sharqia, Muzaffarabad and Kotli from its air space.

According to Chaudhry, at least eight people have been killed, including a child, and 35 injured, while two people were still missing.

In retaliation, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the country’s military downed five Indian Air Force jets.

Pakistan also approached the UN Security Council and told the top world body that the Indian strikes posed a threat to international peace and security.

The UN Security Council “has been informed that Pakistan reserves the right to respond appropriately to this aggression at a time and place of its choosing, in accordance with its right to self-defense as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

The escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors comes in the wake of an April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir in which 26 people were killed. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, claiming there were cross-border links. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings.

In a separate statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called the Indian attack an "unprovoked and blatant act of war" and a violation of its sovereignty.

Separately, Pakistan's Punjab province, which has a border with India, declared a state of emergency and ordered the closure of all educational institutions Wednesday. Schools were also closed in the capital Islamabad.