How Pakistani civilians paid the price in airstrikes India claimed targeted militants

In the early hours of Wednesday, India launched airstrikes into Pakistan, framing them as retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam attack. However, as the dust settled, it wasn’t militant strongholds that lay in ruins -- but civilian lives, exposing the grave human toll of the growing hostility between the two neighbors.

Casualty reports reveal that it was civilians who bore the brunt of India’s aggression. Pakistan claims to have retaliated strongly, shooting down at least five Indian jets in response.

Pakistani officials report that at least 26 civilians lost their lives and 46 others were injured in the attacks. According to the military spokesperson, among the 26 martyred, 13 were in Ahmedpur East, including two three-year-old girls and seven women. Three were killed in Muzaffarabad, two in Kotli, three in Muridke, and five died in cross-border firing near the Line of Control (LoC).

Schoolchildren also among victims

The first wave of strikes hit late at night, and one missile fired by Indian forces struck a residential compound behind Masjid Abbas in Kotli, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing two teenage siblings as they prepared for school the next morning.

The victims -- a brother and sister, both in grades 9 and 10 -- had been living alone in Kotli to pursue their education. Their father works in Saudi Arabia, and their mother resides in Nakyal, unaware that her children had become martyrs overnight.

Neighbors described the chaos that followed. “We were preparing for bed when suddenly, massive explosions shook our home,” said Haroon, a resident of the area, speaking to Nukta. “We immediately switched off the lights and moved downstairs. Once things quieted, we saw that one side of a portion of the house behind the mosque had been destroyed.” The missile, which India later claimed was targeting a “terrorist hideout”, had instead hit an unarmed civilian residence.

The children’s bodies were recovered at dawn and sent to Nakyal for burial.

Claims of pre-emption contradicted by eyewitnesses

India has claimed that its strikes were pre-emptive, targeting what it described as militant infrastructure. However, eyewitness accounts and local sources paint a different picture, revealing that the missiles struck civilian neighborhoods, resulting in a heavy toll on innocent lives and widespread property damage.

Nukta spoke directly with residents and eyewitnesses from multiple attack sites, including Kotli in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Muridke in Punjab. The testimonies gathered confirm that those killed were unarmed civilians -- among them children, mosque workers, and local residents. These firsthand accounts sharply contradict India’s claims and present a grim reality of indiscriminate targeting that tore through peaceful neighborhoods.

A damaged portion of Bilal Mosque is seen after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, May 7, 2025. Reuters

In a similar incident, around midnight, a missile struck the home of Owais Nisar in Kotli, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, causing severe damage by hitting his car parked in the porch.

Nisar told Nukta that the explosion's sudden force immediately made him realize that India had launched an attack. Reacting quickly, he turned off all the lights and moved to a safer part of the house. It wasn’t until 4 a.m., when the gunfire finally subsided, that he dared to step outside and assess the damage. He later reported the incident to the relevant authorities.

Mourning the dead: Families share their pain

A seven-year-old boy, Irtiza Abbas Turi -- the son of Pakistan Army Lieutenant Colonel Zaheer Abbas Turi -- was killed in the same strikes on civilian areas across AJK. The child lost his life in one of the missile attacks that struck residential zones. His funeral was held in Islamabad.

In Muridke, Punjab, a man was killed in an airstrike that targeted a local mosque. According to his brother, who spoke to Nukta, the victim was a poor man and the sole breadwinner for his family. He had worked as a guard at the mosque for the past four to five years.

Others affected by the attack shared heart-wrenching accounts. A resident of Muridke recalled how his four-year-old daughter cried uncontrollably for hours after the explosion shattered their home’s windows. "The blast was so loud and intense," he said, "it felt like the ground was shaking beneath us."

Muhammad Yaar, an elderly cardiac patient who had recently undergone bypass surgery, told Nukta that the force of the blast knocked him unconscious. "I’m terrified," he said. "If it happens again, I don’t know if I’ll survive."