Indian armed forces attacked sites belonging to three Pakistan-based militant groups that India says carried out strikes on its territory, according to an intelligence document shared with Newsweek after the assault.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors ratcheted up after gunmen massacred 26 people, mostly Indian tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month. India struck nine targets inside Pakistan, saying these were sites on which attacks had been planned, but gave no other details in its public statements. Pakistan said the Indian military had hit civilian targets.
The document shared with Newsweek provided details of sites it said were operated by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), three militant groups designated as terrorist organizations by India and other countries.
“The strikes were aimed at neutralizing launchpads, commanders, and infrastructure responsible for decades of terror in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir,” an Indian government official told Newsweek, referring to the document.
Newsweek reached out to the Pakistani government for comment on this article via email on Tuesday night.
“Pakistan has every right to give a befitting reply to this act of war imposed by India and a befitting reply is being given,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.
Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Pakistan’s chief military spokesman, told CNN that his country had shot down two Indian aircraft.
One of the sites targeted by India was Markaz Subhan Allah, described in the document as the “nerve center” and “operational headquarters” of JeM. According to the document, it was home to JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar, his “de facto successor” Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar and other senior leaders.
Another target was described in the document as the “oldest LeT training complex,” which it said was used to train the gunmen who carried out the 2008 attacks on Mumbai.
“Despite being designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations and banned domestically by Pakistan, both JeM and LeT continue to operate with impunity from well-facilitated, military-grade infrastructure, with tacit support from Pakistani intelligence (ISI),” the official said.
Pakistan denies Indian allegations that its military and intelligence services support anti-Indian militant groups.
Intelligence document provided to Newsweek
U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both publicly reacted to the strikes on Tuesday, calling for the attacks to end “quickly.”
Rubio said in a post to X, formerly Twitter, in part, that he “will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.”
Update 5/6/25, 11:13 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.