By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The military said on Tuesday that 11 soldiers and at least 40 civilians were martyred during a week of intense hostilities with India, as a US-brokered ceasefire struggled to contain the deadliest military escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals in nearly a decade.
The violence erupted after India launched nighttime air raids on May 6-7 in retaliation for what New Delhi called Pakistan’s involvement in a militant attack in Pahalgam. Islamabad denied the allegation and condemned the strikes as “unprovoked and reprehensible dastardly attacks,” accusing India of targeting civilians in heartland Pakistan.
Pakistan responded with missile strikes under Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, triggering a cycle of aerial and artillery exchanges that stretched across the region.
In a statement Tuesday, the military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said 78 soldiers were wounded and 121 civilians injured during the clashes. Among the dead were 15 children and seven women, according to the ISPR, which released the names of 11 slain troops, including Pakistan Air Force Squadron Leader Usman Yousuf, Chief Technician Aurangzeb, Senior Technician Najeeb, Corporal Technician Farooq and Senior Technician Mubashir and Army’s Naik Abdul Rehman, Lance Naik Dilawar Khan, Lance Naik Ikramullah, Naik Waqar Khalid, Sepoy Muhammad Adeel Akbar, and Sepoy Nisar.
“These barbaric strikes resulted in the martyrdom of 40 civilians—among them 7 women and 15 children—while 121 others sustained injuries, including 10 women and 27 children,” the ISPR said. “Their noble sacrifice of martyrs is an enduring symbol of courage, devotion, and unwavering patriotism—etched forever in the nation’s memory.”
The military described its counterstrikes as “precise and retributive,” part of its Marka-i-Haq campaign, and warned that any future aggression would be met with a “swift, full-spectrum, and decisive response.”
The hostilities subsided only after President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire late Saturday, crediting “tireless diplomacy” with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Neither government has disclosed the terms of the agreement, though Sharif declared May 10 an annual day of observance, Youm-e-Marka-i-Haq, to honour the country’s ‘magnificent success’ in defending its sovereignty.
The clashes mark the most severe military confrontation between the two nations since 2019, when tit-for-tat airstrikes brought them to the brink of war. Analysts warn the latest escalation underscores the volatility of the Kashmir dispute, a decades-old flashpoint that both countries claim in full.
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