The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) early on May 7 condemned what it called India’s “aggression against Pakistan by targeting civilian populations across the border,” escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, the BBC reports.

The PPP is one of Pakistan’s three major political parties. In a statement posted on X, the party said India’s “unprovoked” action violated “international law, the UN Charter and Pakistan's sovereignty.”

No mention was made of earlier claims of artillery fire having come from Pakistan.

“Indian provocations will be countered with full force and unwavering determination to protect Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the PPP warned according to the BBC.

India’s defence ministry meanwhile said its military had carried out “targeted strikes on nine terrorist infrastructure sites” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir the BBC continues. The ministry stressed that at no point were military, civilian or economic facilities targeted. According to Indian authorities, the strikes were a direct response to a deadly militant attack in Pahalgam last month, which left 26 people dead.

Pakistan, however, described the strikes as cowardly and confirmed that three, later five locations had been hit. Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said eight civilians had been killed and 35 others wounded. India has not publicly commented on the reported casualties.

Further escalating the situation, amid mounting diplomatic fallout, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it had formally informed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) about what it called “blatant aggression by India and the threat it posed to international peace and security.”

The “UNSC has been informed that Pakistan reserves the right to respond appropriately to this aggression at a time and place of its choosing, in accordance with its right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter,” the ministry said in a statement.