KARACHI: Pakistani military media’s wing said on Wednesday 13 members of the armed forces had been killed in the latest military confrontation with India, paying tribute to their courage and “unshakeable patriotism.”
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said on Tuesday that 11 armed forces personnel had been killed in Pakistan’s latest standoff with India while 78 had been injured. Forty civilians had also been killed and 121 were injured.
India and Pakistan engaged in four days of armed conflict last week, the worst between them since 1999, pounding each other with fighter aircraft, missiles, drones and artillery fire. The conflict erupted when India fired missiles into Pakistan last Wednesday night after weeks of tensions over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, while Islamabad denied involvement.
“While defending the motherland with exemplary courage and unwavering resolve, 2 more valiant sons of the soil embraced shahadat today who were hospitalized, bringing the total number of martyred personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces to 13 while 78 have sustained injuries in the line of duty,” the ISPR said, referring to India’s attacks on the night of May 6.
The army’s Havaldar Muhammad Naveed Shaheed and Senior Technician Muhammad Ayaz of the Pakistan Air Force were the latest armed forces personnel who succumbed to their injuries, the ISPR said.
“Their noble sacrifice stands as a timeless testament to their courage, devotion to duty, and unshakeable patriotism,” it added.
After India struck multiple Pakistani cities last Wednesday with missiles, claiming it had targeted “terrorist” camps in response to the April 22 attack, Islamabad vowed to retaliate saying it had shot down five Indian fighter jets.
Things came to a head on Saturday morning when Pakistan said India had attacked three bases, and it struck back with attacks on multiple bases in India, including a missile storage site in India’s north.
Hours later, US President Donald Trump announced he had brokered a ceasefire between the two states, calming fears of an all-out war.
Both countries claimed victory as the fragile ceasefire came into force, with Pakistan saying it targeted several Indian military sites on Saturday and destroyed an S-400 missile defense system as part of its retaliatory ‘Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos’ operation, which translates to “Wall of Lead” in Arabic, in response to India attacking three air bases.
India has also released new satellite images showing serious damage to air strips and radar stations at what Indian defense officials say are multiple Pakistani military bases crippled by massive Indian airstrikes.
Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Both nations are nuclear-armed, raising global alarm every time an armed conflict breaks out between them.
