May 8, 2025 - India-Pakistan conflict escalates after Kashmir massacre

Our live coverage of the India-Pakistan conflict has moved here.

Reliance Industries, the powerful conglomerate owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, said on Friday it was rolling back an application to trademark “Operation Sindoor” that had been mistakenly filed by a junior employee.

“Operation Sindoor” is the name of India’s latest military action against Islamabad, which it launched early Wednesday morning with missile strikes on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“Reliance Industries has no intention of trademarking Operation Sindoor, a phrase which is now a part of the national consciousness as an evocative symbol of Indian bravery,” the company said on X.

“Jio Studios, a unit of Reliance Industries, has withdrawn its trademark application, which was filed inadvertently by a junior person without authorization,” it said.

Reliance had first filed the trademark application on Wednesday, according to a public trademark record on a government website. The application said the trademark would be used for the “provision of entertainment,” such as use in audio, video, publishing, concerts and more.

Screenshots of the application on the website quickly circulated online, with social media users criticizing the company’s move, Reuters reported.

Several Bollywood films have been produced on India’s previous military operations, including “Uri,” depicting India’s covert operation against alleged Islamic militants after a deadly attack on an Indian base in Kashmir.

More background: The name “Sindoor” appears to be a reference to the red vermilion, or powder, many Hindu women wear on their foreheads after marriage. The April tourist massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir by militants, which triggered the latest escalations, left several Indian women widowed. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, which Islamabad has denied.

Pakistan’s army destroyed several Indian Army “checkposts” along their disputed border in Kashmir in response to “unprovoked firing” from the Indian side, a Pakistan security source told CNN on Friday.

Pakistani troops destroyed checkpoints in six locations along the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir, the source said.

India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but each control only part of the region.

The source did not give any details on the checkpoints or when the firing from both sides took place.

Dangerous border: The Line of Control is one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders and exchanges of fire are not uncommon.

But the level of conflict has increased dramatically in the wake of a militant attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir last month, which India blamed on Pakistan and Islamabad denied, and this week’s airstrikes on Pakistan.

Commercial airlines in India have issued statements warning passengers to be aware of heightened security measures at airports amid escalating conflict between India and Pakistan.

Air India said the country’s Bureau of Civil Aviation Security had instructed all airlines and airports to enhance security measures.

“Passengers across India are advised to arrive at their respective airports at least three hours prior to scheduled departure to ensure smooth check-in and boarding,” Air India said on X.

“In these extraordinary times, heightened security measures are taken up across all airports. We request you to allow some extra time for your journey to accommodate security checks and formalities,” IndiGo said on X.

Akasa Air encouraged passengers to carry valid government ID and said “all passengers will be required to undergo secondary security checks prior to boarding.”

Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Indian capital Delhi said operations “remain normal” but some flight schedules “may be impacted due to evolving airspace conditions and heightened security measures.” Mumbai airport also warned of longer wait times.

More than 20 airports across northern and northwestern India will remain closed until Saturday, a senior police official said Wednesday.

Multiple Indian and international carriers have also canceled flights to and from destinations in northern India, and other airlines said they were rerouting or canceling flights to and from Europe due to the escalation between India and Pakistan.

In the decades-old conflict between India and Pakistan, no area is considered more hostile than the dangerous border that divides the two countries in contested Kashmir.

And since India conducted widespread airstrikes on its neighbor earlier this week, hostilities along the de-facto border, known as the Line of Control (LoC), have exploded, leaving families on both sides fearing for their lives.

Fifty-year-old Safeer Ahmad Awan from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which was one of the targets of India’s strikes, described to CNN the moment his 15-year-old daughter was wounded by shelling.

There have been widespread reports of people fleeing their homes as gunfire and shelling continues, while others seek safety in bunkers under their homes.

About 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) east of the LoC in Indian-administered Kashmir, Nadeem Akbar, who lives in the town of Uri, told CNN he left his home with some of his family minutes before a fresh round of shelling began Thursday night.

Video from Uri shows buildings reduced to scraps and belongings destroyed.

Deepika Pushkar Nath, a lawyer from the town Jammu, said she was in her garden when she saw a fresh exchange of fire.

India accused Pakistan of launching attacks overnight using drones and “other munitions” along their shared and disputed border, which Pakistan has denied, as confrontations between the South Asian neighbors threaten to spill into a wider conflict.

India and Pakistan have repeatedly accused each other of launching aerial attacks since their conflict escalated on Wednesday.

Here’s what to know:

India has asked all streaming platforms operating in the country to remove content originating from Pakistan, adding to a growing digital stand-off between the nations as their conflict escalates.

The move adds to the tensions flaring in the wake of the tourist massacre in India-administered Kashmir in April. India has already blocked the social media handles of some Pakistani celebrities, and Pakistan responded in kind.

The order applies to both subscription-based and free platforms. Netflix, Disney, Spotify and Apple Music are among those available in India.

Content that “threatens the unity, integrity, defense, security or sovereignty of India” was the target of the directive, the information ministry said.

Platforms that fail to comply risk being punished under India’s Information and Technology rules. CNN has reached out to the major international streaming providers operating in India for comment.

Some context: India and Pakistan were once a single nation before its former British colonial leaders hastily divided them along religious lines in 1947, setting the stage for a fierce geopolitical rivalry that has led to four wars.

The ministry’s latest advisory is a marked escalation from prior cultural boycotts at times of hostility between the nations.

In 2016, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association imposed a de facto ban on Pakistani talent performing in India, after dozens of Indian soldiers were killed in a militant attack in the disputed Kashmir region.

India’s army says it repelled multiple attacks from Pakistani drones and other munitions along their shared border overnight.

It also accused Pakistan of “numerous cease fire violations” along the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir, saying that the alleged “violations” were met with a “befitting reply.”

The army warned that would respond with force to “all nefarious designs.”

On Thursday night, explosions were heard in Jammu city, in Indian-administered Kashmir, an Indian Army spokesperson told CNN.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar denied Islamabad had launched attacks on Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday, and accused Indian media of “spreading disinformation.”

India and Pakistan have repeatedly accused each other of launching aerial attacks since their conflict escalated on Wednesday.

Pakistani Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said Thursday his country has been acting in “self-defense” as he accused India of escalating the conflict between the two nations — and again denied any government role in the April massacre in Kashmir where 26 people were killed.

Pakistan has the “right to respond” to India’s strikes, he said, dismissing the Indian ambassador to the US’ earlier comments to CNN that their strikes were intended to be non-escalatory.

Sheikh also placed the responsibility for de-escalation on India.

The ambassador also said he believed that there have been contacts between India and Pakistan at the national security adviser level, “but then this escalation, both in terms of the actions that have been taken and in terms of the rhetoric that is coming out, has to stop.”

Asked about a call where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, and called for Pakistan to “take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups,” the ambassador questioned, “What terrorist groups?”

“All those structures that were there have been dismantled with a degree of finality,” he said.

Some background: The two militant groups that India said it targeted in its Wednesday strikes on Pakistan are declared as terror groups by many countries and have been accused of launching several deadly attacks on neighboring India. They are Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), two extremist groups based in Pakistan.

CNN’s Aditi Sangal contributed to the report.

Pakistan released its readout of the call between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

Sharif condemned India’s strikes, saying the Pakistani public was outraged by the attack, and argued they “violated Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while gravely jeopardizing peace and stability in the South Asia region,” the statement from the Pakistani prime minister’s office said.

Sharif also conveyed Pakistan’s “resolve to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs” and that Pakistan “reserved the right to act in self-defense,” the statement added.

Rubio said the US is closely following the situation and is “committed to promoting peace and stability in the region. To this end, he emphasized upon the need for both Pakistan and India to work closely to de-escalate the situation,” the statement added.

More background: CNN had earlier reported the US readout of the call between the two men. Rubio also spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The top US diplomat emphasized the need for de-escalation in the growing crisis between the two countries in both the calls.

The US readout of the call between Rubio and Sharif also noted that the top US diplomat conveyed to Sharif that Pakistan should “take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups.”

The government of India’s capital territory Delhi – home to the capital city of New Delhi – has stopped civil servants from taking leave until “further orders.”

A government notice shared by Indian state radio and dated May 8 reads:

The order comes amid growing fears that India and Pakistan are at the brink of a wider conflict.

Vice President JD Vance said in an interview today that the conflict between India and Pakistan is “fundamentally none of our business,” though he and President Donald Trump are encouraging the countries to deescalate.

Tensions continue to flare between India and Pakistan, as CNN reports, with Indian officials saying Pakistan fired missiles and drones at military sites in India and Indian-administered Kashmir. Islamabad has denied that claim, but earlier said it killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers along the de facto border in Kashmir and downed over two dozen Indian drones. Meanwhile, India confirmed it has targeted air defense systems in Pakistan.

Tensions continue to ratchet up between India and Pakistan, with Indian officials saying Pakistan fired missiles and drones at military sites in India and Indian-administered Kashmir. Islamabad has denied that claim, accusing New Delhi of “spreading disinformation.”

Blackouts are in place in multiple locations in Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan, according to local Indian police officials, as local residents express fear and anxiety.

Here’s what else has happened in the last few hours:

CNN’s Esha Mitra, Sophia Saifi, Hira Humayun, Jim Sciutto, Jennifer Hansler, Mukhtar Ahmad and Caitlin Danaher contributed reporting.

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce suggested that the US could support an independent investigation into the tourist massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying today that “we want the perpetrators to be held accountable and are supportive of any efforts to that end.”

Bruce would not say if Secretary of State Marco Rubio has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan to try to de-escalate the crisis but called the top US diplomat “the center point leading these conversations and this outreach” to the two sides.

Rubio spoke with the Indian external affairs minister and the Pakistani prime minister today in separate calls, urging de-escalation.

Bruce added: “In every situation, in this particular case, of course, a very delicate and dangerous situation, but in any case where there’s diplomatic conversations between leaders of countries, or really any level where there’s negotiations happening, we are not going to be speaking about the details.”

Heavy shelling is ongoing in Uri, in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to a local police officer.

The town of Uri is just about 2 miles from the Line of Control — the de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region — in certain places and about 63 miles from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

There are no reports of injuries so far, according to the officer.

Remember: Both the Indian and Pakistani militaries have been exchanging gunfire across the Line of Control nearly every day since the tourist massacre last month — which is at the heart of this current escalation — when gunmen stormed a scenic spot in Indian-administered Kashmir and killed 26 civilians.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar speaks with journalists during a government-organized visit to Bella Noor Shah, a mountainous village near Muzaffarabad, Pakistan administered Kashmir, on May 5.

Indian officials say Pakistan fired missiles and drones at military sites in India and Indian-administered Kashmir — which Islamabad has denied.

Eight missiles were fired from Pakistan toward Indian-administered Kashmir, an Indian defense source told CNN, adding that they were all “intercepted and blocked by Air Defense Units.” The source said the attacks were directed at the towns of Satwari, Samba, Ranbir Singh Pura and Arnia.

India’s defense ministry said military sites targeted also include Pathankot in the state of Punjab, and that the threat was neutralized and there were no losses. According to the government body, the military sites are “in proximity to the international boundary.” Indian Army spokesperson in Jammu, Sunil Bartwal, said attacks were also reported in the state of Rajasthan, but were engaged by the Indian military.

Blackouts are in place in multiple locations in Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan, according to local police officials.

Pakistan’s response: Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar hit back at the allegations, posting to X: “Pakistan has not targeted any locations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, or across international border, so far.” He added that Pakistan’s air force has not incurred any losses and accused Indian media of “spreading disinformation.”

Tensions have been high between both countries. Pakistan vowed to retaliate after Indian strikes hit Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the early hours of Wednesday local time, killing dozens.

Schools across the Indian state of Punjab will remain closed over the next three days, the state education minister said.

His announcement comes as Indian officials say intercepted Pakistani attacks targeted multiple locations, including Punjab — which Pakistan has denied.

India’s military is firing air defense missiles over the state of Punjab, a police official in the state told CNN.

Daljinder Singh Dhillon, senior superintendent of police in the city of Pathankot, said firing is also happening from the other side” but that it is unclear whether drones or “something else” is involved.

He said air defense is at work and explosions are “continuously being heard.”

“Our job is to keep people safe, so we had instated a blackout immediately and made sure people were indoors” Dhillon told CNN.

India’s air defenses are active over Jammu, Sunil Bartwal, an Indian army spokesperson in Indian-administered Kashmir told CNN.

The blackout has been in place since about 8 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET).

This post has been updated with additional information.

A paramilitary soldier inspects a house after according to the Crime Scene Unit, a drone was brought down, on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, on Thursday.

Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra said today that India’s strikes on Pakistan were intended to have a “certain finality,” arguing that Pakistan has escalated the situation.

In an interview on CNN, Kwatra suggested the strikes were meant to be the sole kinetic response to the tourist massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir in April.

“Pakistan chose to escalate it further,” he claimed, indicating that India would have to respond.

Kwatra argued that the strikes were proportional to the massacre last month and meant to be non-escalatory. He maintained that they were only targeting alleged terrorist infrastructure.

He would not confirm the downing of five Indian jets, saying that he would not speak to “operational details.”

A journalist in Indian-administered Kashmir said he heard loud explosions and sirens on Thursday night local time.

“Electricity in Jammu city has been shut off,” said the journalist, requesting anonymity for security reasons. “There is panic.”

Resident Muzaffar Ahmad said there was a “total blackout” after explosions were heard.

Another journalist in Jammu, who also requested anonymity for security reasons, told CNN the explosions were first heard at 8 p.m. local Thursday night (10:30 a.m. ET) and that she can still hear intermittent explosions.

The explosions come as Pakistan’s military says it has downed 29 Indian drones.

CNN has reached out to Pakistani authorities for comment.