India early on Wednesday said its armed forces had conducted strikes against Pakistan and what it calls Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, targeting "terrorist infrastructure." "Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted," the country's Ministry of Defence said.

The operation, which the ministry said was aimed at nine sites "from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed," follows a militant attack last month in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. "We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable," the statement said, while adding that India had shown "considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution." The Defence Ministry said there will be a detailed briefing on the strikes, labeled "Operation Sindoor," later in the day.

Sindoor refers to a red- or orange-colored powder mostly worn by Indian Hindu married women. Speaking to CNBC, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused India of violating his country's territorial sovereignty and attacking its civilian population. "Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given," Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said earlier, according to AP.