NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD — India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early on Wednesday, killing at least 31 people — including a child — in what Pakistan's prime minister has called an "act of war."

India said it had attacked infrastructure allegedly used by militants who carried out last month's massacre of tourists in Kashmir, control of which is split between India and Pakistan but which both countries claim in its entirety.

Pakistan said it had shot down several Indian fighter jets in retaliation, with three planes falling onto villages in India-controlled Kashmir.

Indian police and medics, meanwhile, said at least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the April attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, at a popular meadow in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

India's army said its operation was named "Sindoor," a Hindi word for the bright red vermillion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair, referring to women caught up in the Kashmir massacre whose husbands were killed in front of them by the attackers.

India has blamed Pakistan for backing the original attack, but Islamabad has denied the accusation.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday's airstrikes and said his country would retaliate.

"Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given," he said.

The country's National Security Committee met on Wednesday morning, and Pakistan summoned India's charge d'affaires to lodge a protest.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security after military officials said the death toll on the Indian side had risen to 10.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN, said in a statement late on Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling for maximum restraint because the world could not "afford a military confrontation" between India and Pakistan.

Several Indian states have planned civil defence drills for later on Wednesday, according to India's home ministry, to train civilians and security personnel to respond in case of any "hostile attacks."

Such drills in India are rare in non-crisis times.

Indian politicians from different political parties lauded the strikes. "Victory to Mother India," Defense Minister Rajnath Singh wrote in a post on X.

India's main opposition Congress party called for national unity and said it was "extremely proud" of the country's army.

"We applaud their resolute resolve and courage," party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.

The missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country's eastern Punjab province, killing at least 31 people including women and children, said Pakistan's military spokesperson, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif.

Officials said another 38 people were injured by the strikes, and another five people were killed in Pakistan during exchanges of fire across the border later in the day.

Sharif said the Indian jets also damaged infrastructure at a dam in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, calling it a violation of international norms.

India's Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted at least nine sites "where terrorist attacks against India have been planned".

"Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted," the statement said, adding that "India has demonstrated considerable restraint."

Pakistan said the strikes hit at least two sites previously tied to banned militant groups.

One hit Subhan Mosque in Punjab's Bahawalpur city, killing 13 people including a child, according to Zohaib Ahmed, a doctor at a nearby hospital.

The mosque is near a seminary that was once the central office of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group outlawed in 2002. Officials say the group has had no operational presence at the site since the ban.

Another missile hit a mosque in Muridke, damaging its structure. A sprawling building located nearby served as the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba until 2013, when Pakistan banned the group and arrested its founder.

Last month's attack on tourists was claimed by a previously unknown militant group called Kashmir Resistance, which India says is also known as The Resistance Front and is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad said he heard several explosions as the blast ripped through houses. He saw people running in panic and authorities immediately cut power to the area.

People took refuge on the streets and in open areas, fearful of what might happen. "We were afraid the next missile might hit our house," said Mohammad Ashraf.

Along the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there were heavy exchanges of fire.

The Indian police and medics said seven civilians were killed and 30 wounded by Pakistani shelling in Poonch district near the highly militarized Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries. Officials said several homes also were damaged in the shelling.

The Indian army said Pakistani troops "resorted to arbitrary firing," including gunfire and artillery shelling, across the frontier.

Shortly after India's strikes, aircraft fell onto three villages in India-controlled Kashmir.

Sharif, the Pakistani military spokesperson, said the country's air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation for the strikes. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan's claim.

Debris from a plane was scattered across Wuyan village in the outskirts of the region's main city, including in a school and a mosque compound, according to Srinagar police and residents. Firefighters struggled for hours to douse the resulting fires.

"There was a huge fire in the sky. Then we heard several blasts also," said Mohammed Yousuf Dar, a Wuyan resident.

Another aircraft fell in an open field in Bhardha Kalan village, near the Line of Control in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Village resident Sachin Kumar told The Associated Press he heard massive blasts followed by a huge ball of fire.

Kumar said he and several other villagers rushed to the scene and found two pilots with injuries. Both were later taken away by the Indian army.

A third aircraft crashed in a farm field in India's northern Punjab state, a police officer told the AP, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. — Euronews