India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a high-level meeting with senior ministers from his cabinet.
In video released by his office, Modi can be seen sitting alongside senior government figures including Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Modi has not spoken publicly since India launched strikes on neighboring Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday.
32 min ago
A UN team has arrived at a site in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that Islamabad says was hit by India’s strikes
From CNN stringer Immad Uddin in Muzaffarabad
A United Nations team has arrived at a site in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that Islamabad says was hit by India’s strikes, a CNN stringer said.
The CNN stringer at the site reported seeing two white UN vehicles in the city of Muzaffarabad, where Pakistan said a mosque was struck early Wednesday.
India claimed that no military sites were targeted in its strikes and that there had been no reports of civilian casualties.
Pakistan, however, said Wednesday’s strikes had harmed civilians and targeted mosques across six locations in its territory.
1 hr 29 min ago
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi postpones overseas trip
From CNN’s Vedika Sud and Rhea Mogul
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 3.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 3. Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images/File
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has postponed a trip to visit to Croatia, The Netherlands and Norway, a senior government official told CNN.
No official reason has been given for the delay, but the announcement comes hours after New Delhi launched strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Modi has not publicly spoken about the military action on India’s neighbor.
1 hr 27 min ago
Residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir forced to flee their homes during Indian attacks
From CNN staff
A building in Muridke, Pakistan, that was damaged by an Indian missile strike on Wednesday
A building in Muridke, Pakistan, that was damaged by an Indian missile strike on Wednesday K.M. Chaudary/AP
Residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir say they were forced to flee their homes and take shelter after India launched missile strikes on its neighbor.
“All of a sudden, the electricity went out. I thought a transformer [had] burst, but later came to know that Indian troops started shelling and firing kra31 at us,” Raja Shahid Bashir, a resident of Shawai in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told CNN.
“Shells landed close to our home and we came out and took our livestock and belongings and took shelter,” said Bashir.
Another resident, Shakeel Butt, told CNN she had to flee when shells started falling on the village. “A shell landed at a house close to the mosque in which two people were injured. Shells also hit other houses in our area and we fled from our area to a safer place,” she said.
India’s military said it had struck nine “terrorist camps” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. At least 26 civilians were killed due to Indian army action, a Pakistan military spokesperson said, according to the Reuters news agency. Pakistan said it retaliated by shooting down five Indian Air Force jets and a drone. India has not confirmed the fighter jet losses.
Zeeshan Akram, a resident of Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province, told Reuters that drones appeared in the early hours of Wednesday and struck a mosque in the city, destroying it.
“They hit the mosque directly—destroyed its courtyard, the minister’s office in front of the mosque, and the roof. Everything was crushed. There was one person sitting on the roof, on duty, he was martyred,” Akram told Reuters.
“Fear and terror spread in people. People had gone out into the fields, in the open, just like that,” Waqas Ahmed, another resident of Muridke, told Reuters.