India's strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir have unleashed a wave of misinformation online, with unrelated videos purporting to be from the strikes gaining millions of views.

Dramatic clips debunked by BBC Verify have claimed to show attacks on an Indian army base and an Indian fighter jet shot down in Pakistan.

One video, which had more than 400,000 views on X at the time of writing, claiming to show an explosion caused by a Pakistani response was actually from the 2020 Beirut Port explosion in Lebanon.

An expert told BBC Verify that in moments of heightened tension or dramatic events, misinformation is more likely to spread and fuel distrust and hostility.

The majority of experts agree that a retaliation from Pakistan is inevitable - and diplomacy will come into play.

"Pakistan will be getting advice to exercise restraint," a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, tells the BBC. "But the key will be the diplomacy after the Pakistani response to ensure that both countries don't rapidly climb the ladder of escalation."

Similarly, Christopher Clary of the University at Albany in the US - who studies South Asia politics - says given the scale of India's strikes, Pakistan is highly likely to respond.

"Doing otherwise essentially would give India permission to strike Pakistan whenever Delhi feels aggrieved and would run contrary to the Pakistan military's commitment to retaliating with 'quid pro quo plus'," he adds.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Lahore-based political and military analyst Ejaz Hussain, tells the BBC that while India's strikes were "largely anticipated", he worries that surgical strikes on both sides could "escalate into a limited conventional war".

Image source,EPA

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, says she is concerned about the rising tensions between India and Pakistan.

She tells reporters that the bloc is trying to "mediate and bring the tensions down" ahead of an informal meeting of European foreign ministers in Warsaw.

Meanwhile, Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares says "peace, diplomacy and restraint must prevail" in a post on X.

We’ve just heard from Nalin Kohli, the national spokesman for India's governing party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who defended the strikes.

"Nobody wants a war," he tells the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.

But, he adds, India will not “stay away from protecting [the] rights” of its citizens and “ensuring that Indian blood is not spilled…in a power game, based on a network that supports terrorists or breeds terrorists”.

He says India only struck sites that he claims are "directly associated with terrorist groups", and did not target "anything to do with the Pakistani military".

• Some context: Last night's strike action comes after last month's deadly attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Delhi says it has evidence linking Pakistan-based "terrorists" to the attack, a claim Islamabad denies. Pakistan has said that India has not offered any evidence to support its claim

Following the strikes launched by India overnight, many living near the Line of Control (LoC) - the de facto border between India and Pakistan - are fleeing with their belongings.

The pictures below document families leaving the villages Suchetgarh and Jeora Farm, in Indian-administered Kashmir, in carts and makeshift trailers.

Image source,Reuters

Image source,Reuters

The University of Kashmir in the city of Srinagar - in Indian-administered Kashmir - says it is postponing all exams scheduled up to and including 10 May.

In a statement posted to the university website, the assistant controller of examinations adds: "Fresh dates for the postponed papers shall be notified separately."

Image source,EVN/Doordarshan

India's Minister of State for External Affairs has said "the whole country is happy that we took revenge" after the strikes on Pakistan.

"Our country gave a befitting reply to those who killed innocent people and widowed women," Kirti Vardan Singh tells reporters, referencing the deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam last month.

For context: India has said it has evidence linking Pakistan-based "terrorists" to the attack - a claim Pakistan denies.

He warns that "enemy countries" should take the strikes as a "message" that India has "information around every corner", after Islamabad reported that six locations were hit.

"If we have to take such more action in future, we will do so with more strength," he adds.

• The escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals comes after a deadly attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir last month
• India says it has evidence linking Pakistan-based "terrorists" to the attack - a claim Pakistan denies
• Pakistan has said that India has not offered any evidence to support its claim

  Pakistan vows response to Indian strikes - what you need to knowpublished at 21:56 7 May

  The latest:

  • In the early hours of Wednesday, India said it had launched a series of missile strikes on what it called "terrorist infrastructure sites" in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir
  • Pakistan said six locations were hit and said it shot down five Indian jets and a drone - Delhi has not commented
  • Pakistan reported that 26 people were killed and 46 injured by India's strikes
  • India's army said 15 civilians were killed by Pakistani shelling on its side of the de facto border
  • Pakistan's National Security Committee (NSC) warned that it reserves the right to respond to India "at a time, place and manner of its choosing" to the missile strikes
  • And members of Pakistan's government - including the minister of information, speaking to the BBC - vowed to retaliate

   

  

   

  00:35

By Shruti Menon and Tom Spencer

BBC Verify has been looking at footage purporting to show pieces of debris from Indian aircraft involved in the strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

One video, purportedly from the Pampore area of Indian-administered Kashmir, shows the remains of a fighter jet drop tank being removed by a digger. These fuel tanks can be jettisoned in flight so do not necessarily indicate that any plane was downed.

Another video shows a piece of a drop tank, again in the Pampore area of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Experts at Janes, the defence intelligence firm, believe this particular tank is typically carried by Dassault Mirage 2000 aircraft, which are operated by the Indian Air Force.

Another video post, external also claims to show the wreckage of an unidentified missile near to Aklian Kalan village of Bathinda, Punjab, India.

Justin Crump, a former British Army Officer who runs the risk intelligence company Sibylline, says the debris appears to show the wreckage of a French air-to-air missile of a type used on both Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighter jets - both of which are operated by the Indian Air Force.

All of Pakistan’s airports remain fully operational, the country’s aviation authority says.

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) adds that the country’s airspace is also open and "secure for civil aviation activities".

"Pakistan has formally conveyed its concerns to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding the serious risks posed to civil aviation safety by India's reckless and provocative actions," the statement says.

Aamir Peerzada
Reporting from Salamabad

The BBC reached the Line of Control (LoC) in the village of Salamabad, Uri, just a few kilometres from the de facto border in Indian-administered Kashmir, where several artillery shells landed this morning.

Several residents were injured and taken to Baramulla Hospital.

Salamabad has turned into a ghost town. We hardly saw any civilians in the village, and there was no one to tell us the story of what happened during the cross-border shelling.

Houses are still burning, chickens remain locked in their shelters, but no one is left to recount the horror and destruction.

In a far corner of the village, we met a resident Bashir Ahmad, who hadn’t left. He said 85% of the village’s population had fled for safety.

This town is no stranger to cross-border shelling. It was regularly reported until 2021, when India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire, and life returned to normal, free of fear—until this morning.

Now, uncertainty looms once again.

Image source,Pakistan's PM Office/Getty Images

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the parliament that his country's forces shot down five Indian aircraft, according to reports in Pakistani media.

He says two of them came down in Kashmir and one in India’s Bathinda.

Sharif's comments echo earlier claims from Pakistan's military. India hasn’t commented on this claim.

Image source,AFP via Getty Images

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that current tensions between India and Pakistan are a "serious concern".

"The UK government is urging India and Pakistan to show restraint and engage in direct dialogue to find a swift, diplomatic path forward," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lammy said the UK had a close and unique relationship with both countries.

"I have made clear to my counterparts in India and Pakistan that if this escalates further, nobody wins," he said.

"The UK was clear in its condemnation of the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam last month. We need all sides to work urgently to see regional stability restored and ensure protection of civilians," he added.

Lammy also said that the safety of British nationals in the region was "our priority", adding that the UK foreign office was monitoring developments closely.

Archana Shukla
India business correspondent

Image source,Getty Images

Nearly 550 scheduled flights have been cancelled in India and Pakistan since the air strikes.

Sixteen per cent of all scheduled commercial flights in Pakistan and 3% in India have been cancelled since the air strikes, according to data from real-time flight tracking service Flightradar24.

In Pakistan, 135 flights have been cancelled while 417 scheduled flights have been cancelled in India, according to the tracker.

The Indian army has said that artillery firing by Pakistan has led to the deaths of 15 civilians and injured 43 since Tuesday night.

It said that the shelling hit civilian areas in Poonch and Tangdar in Indian-administered Kashmir.

As we have been reporting, Pakistan has said 26 people have been killed in the air strikes and cross-border firing.

...here's a quick recap of what's happened so far:

• Tensions have been running high since India launched a series of air strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in what it said was retaliation for a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
• India claims it successfully targeted nine sites, which it described as "terrorist infrastructure" in a "non-escalatory" manner, and without hitting any Pakistani military facilities
• But Pakistan has rejected India’s claims of terrorist camps on its soil, reiterating that the allegations are baseless. It said that six locations were targeted and claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets. India has not commented on this
• Islamabad has also accused Delhi of hitting civilian targets and said it reserved the right to respond “at a time, place and manner of its choosing”. India, however, says it has "no reports of civilian casualties in Pakistan"
• The strikes, which took place at night, have triggered heavy artillery shelling along the de facto border between the two countries, leading to deaths on both sides
• Delhi says at least 10 people have died and 32 injured in the cross-firing, while Islamabad says 26 people have been killed and 46 injured in Indian air strikes and firing along the border.

• Relations between India and Pakistan have declined sharply following last month's deadly militant attack that killed 26 in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Indian officials say they have found links between the attackers and Pakistan - a charge Islamabad strongly denied earlier. A manhunt by security forces is still under way
• Since then, both countries have announced a range of retaliatory measures against one another, including closing borders and suspending a river water treaty. Troops from both sides have also traded small arms fire

Tasveer Ahmad, a resident of Tangdar in Indian-administered Kashmir, told the BBC that at least six houses, including his own, were destroyed in the cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan. He said his family survived, but could not save any of their belongings.

“We ran to what we thought was a safe area, but that too came under fire,” Ahmad told the BBC. “We have nothing left - no food, no clothes and no roof over our heads.”

He added that the shelling came without warning. “There was complete calm in the area and then, suddenly, all hell broke loose. No-one saw it coming.”

A video he shared with the BBC showed a house engulfed in flames. We have not been able to independently verify it.

 

00:29

Image source,Getty Images

India's Home Minister Amit Shah has held a meeting with chief ministers, chief secretaries and top police officials of border states.

Chief ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, West Bengal and the lieutenant governors of federally-administered Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir attended the meeting.

The details of the meeting have not been made public, but it came hours after tensions escalated between Delhi and Islamabad following a series of air strikes by India on its neighbouring country.