At least 19 killed by Indian missile attacks on Pakistani territory

India has rocketed missiles into parts of Pakistan's territory controlled in the early hours of Wednesday, killing the small of 19 people. Pakistan's leader named the attacks <x0-right war”.

India said it has hit the infrastructure used by militants linked to last month's attack on the India-controlled section of Kashmir, where 26 Hindu tourists were killed.

Pakistan said it crashed several Indian warplanes in retaliation, as two planes crashed into villages controlled by India in Kashmir. At least seven civilians were killed in the region by Pakistani attacks, Indian police and doctors said.

Tensions between India and Pakistan - neighboring armed countries with nuclear weapons - have increased significantly since last month's attack on Pakistani-backed militants. Islamabad has denied involvement.

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shebas Sharif, condemned Wednesday's air strikes and said his country would retaliate, reports Radio Free Europe.

“Pakistan has every right to strongly respond to this act of war imposed by India, and we are indeed responding strongly to”, Sharif said.

Pakistan's National Security Committee will meet Wednesday morning.

The attack sparked the alarm in Washington, where United States President Donald Trump said he was notified of the attack and hoped the clashes “would end very soon”.

In New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres voiced concern about the attack and called for maximum restraint from both countries.

“Bota cannot afford a military clash between India and Pakistan”, Guterres said, according to his spokesman.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted Pakistani National Security adviser Asim Malik, who is also chief of Pakistan's leading intelligence agency, to discuss the situation.

Rubio also spoke with his Indian counterpart and said he would continue to engage with the two countries to reach a solution to the conflict.

It is encouraging India and Pakistan to re-open a channel of communication between their leaders to ease the situation and prevent further escalation”, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Hasan Abbass, distinguished professor of international relations at the Center for Near East Strategic Studies and South Asia, told Radio Free Europe that, although terrorism must always be condemned, Pakistan's hasty claim that the incident was a false operation organised by India without investigation.

Similarly, India's haste to blame Pakistan without reliable evidence only deepens distrust and increases the risk of escalation, Abbas said. /Periscope/