India launched an airstrike on a target within Pakistan early on Tuesday in the most serious escalation in hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in two decades. Jaish-e-Muhammad claimed responsibility for an attack on Feb. 14 that killed 40 Indian paramilitary officers in Kashmir. The attack was the deadliest in three decades of insurgency against Indian rule and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed to respond. In the wake of Tuesday’s strike, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called an emergency meeting of top security and government officials. In Pakistan, the media portrayed the strike as a political stunt by Modi ahead of upcoming national polls.

Source: Washington Post February 26, 2019 04:16 UTC