Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi is due to arrive in Delhi later on Wednesday. He is scheduled to meet President Droupadi Murmu and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, the Indian foreign ministry said, external.

Araghchi was earlier this week in Islamabad where he held talks with Pakistani army chief Gen Syed Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The two sides discussed bilateral relations, border co-operation and enhancing security along their shared borders, according to the statement released by Tehran.

Iran has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan as tensions between the two neighbours escalate.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar now says that eight civilians have died and 35 others have been injured in the Indian strikes.

The highest number of casualties were reported in the city of Ahmedpur East, he adds.

Michael Kugelman
South Asia analyst, Washington

This is the moment for some well-timed mediation.

With India having struck and Pakistan warning of a counter-strike, escalation risks are higher now than they’ve been at any time going back quite a few years. Based on the nature of these initial actions, the chance of further hostilities is quite likely.

The international community appears to be in agreement that the attack in Pahalgam last month should be strongly condemned, but that de-escalation is essential.

No-one wants a war with the world already on fire, and especially one between two nuclear rivals. This is the time for states with good relations with both India and Pakistan – the US but also the Arab Gulf states – to work the phones and urge the two to look for off ramps before nuclear escalation risks set in.

Shafat Farooq
Reporting from Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir

Authorities have announced that all schools, colleges and educational institutions in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch regions of Indian-administered Kashmir will remain closed today.

Earlier today, the Indian army said Pakistan had fired artillery into India-administered Kashmir in the area of Bhimber Gali.

Locals told the BBC they heard explosions in several parts of the region.

Associated Press has obtained footage it says shows the aftermath of an explosion in Muzaffarabad. The BBC has not been able to independently verify it.

Azadeh Moshiri
BBC Pakistan correspondent

Schools in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and in Punjab province have been shut, as the country says it is preparing to respond to the Indian strikes.

Earlier on Wednesday, India said it had launched strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to last month’s militant attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Delhi blames Islamabad for the killings – a charge it denies.

In the last few days, Pakistan’s military and government had been offering journalists escorted visits to Bahawalpur and areas near Muzaffarabad – sites that Pakistan’s military says are among the areas hit by the strikes.

Islamabad said it wanted to debunk India’s claims that these were militant training camps.

The country’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar has now said there were eight civilian casualties and 35 injured.

India has not responded to these claims.

Reuters and the AFP news agency are reporting that India’s army has said three Indian civilians have been killed in military action by Pakistani troops in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has called a meeting of its National Security Committee (NSC) at 10:00PST (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the country’s information minister.

Earlier on Wednesday, India launched strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Delhi has said that the strikes were in response to the militant attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people.

Pakistan has called the strikes a “cowardly attack” and that it would respond to them at a place and time of its choosing.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said on X that he is monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely.

Earlier today, the Indian embassy in the US said that India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had spoken to Rubio “and briefed him on the actions taken”.

President Donald Trump had also responded to media questions about India’s strike, calling it “a shame”.

“I just hope it ends very quickly,” Trump said while speaking at the White House in Washington DC.

Rubio said he echoed the US president’s comments “that this hopefully ends quickly”. He also said that he would continue to engage with both Indian and Pakistani leadership “towards a peaceful resolution”.

Several Indian airlines have also announced the cancellation of flights to Indian-administered Kashmir and to some cities in border states such as Rajasthan and Punjab.

SpiceJet said that airports in parts of northern India, including Dharamshala, Leh, Jammu, Srinagar and Amritsar, were closed, which impacted its flights from these locations. IndiGo Airlines posted on X that its flights to and from these cities were impacted because of changing airspace conditions.

Air India said it had cancelled all its flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot cities till noon local time.

The airline also said it had diverted two international flights en route to Amritsar in Punjab state to capital Delhi.

Josh Cheetham
Open Source Analyst, BBC News

As details emerge from tonight’s attacks, Pakistani authorities have announced the closure of airspace regions covering the major cities of Lahore and Karachi. The closure is in place until 19:20 GMT.

Several major airports fall into these regions, including Islamabad International Airport.There’s already a significant impact on flights in the region, and several planes have diverted from Pakistan, according to flight tracking provider FlightRadar24.

In a post on social media, external, the firm showed diversions by Finnair, Emirates, Turkish Cargo and Saudia.

In a statement to CNN, Air France said it had suspended flights over Pakistan until further notice, and was “adapting its flight schedule and flight plans to and from certain destinations”.German carrier Lufthansa has also told Reuters news agency that it was “avoiding Pakistani airspace until further notice”.

We can bring you reaction from Pakistan’s Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar who has just been speaking to the BBC.

Reacting to news of Indian strikes, he said: “They have crossed our limits.”

He repeated earlier remarks from the military spokesperson about reciprocal strikes.

“This attack is unjustified and an absolutely blind aggression,” he said. “We will obviously retaliate… Our response is on the ground and in the air.”

Azadeh Moshiri
BBC Pakistan correspondent

Pakistan had warned it believed an attack was coming.

And in the dead of night, that belief was confirmed.

The Pakistani military says five locations were targeted, some of them in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.These were areas that the government had encouraged journalists to visit, and said were locations that India claimed were militant training camps.

Since the deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed he would hold the perpetrators to account.

Pakistan has consistently denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation. The government had been calling on world leaders and the UN Security Council to help calm tensions.

The nature of any casualties and Pakistan’s response will be crucial in determining whether this military confrontation escalates.

• The Indian government says it’s launched strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir
• Pakistan’s military says three locations have been hit in what the nation’s PM, Shehbaz Shaif, called a “cowardly attack”
• A spokesperson for the military tells the BBC that seven people, including at least two children, have been killed
• He adds that the military has shot down two Indian jets and one drone. India has not commented and BBC has not been able to verify the claim
• Residents in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir tell our reporter in Islamabad they were jolted awake by huge explosions
• Meanwhile, locals in Indian-administered Kashmir tell the BBC they have heard explosions in several areas near the Line of Control

The Indian embassy in Washington, DC says that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who is also currently serving as acting national security adviser at the White House – after the strikes

Doval “briefed him on the actions taken”, the statement posted on X says.

Footage verified by the BBC from Kotli in Pakistan-administered Kashmir shows smoke billowing in the distance.

Earlier, Pakistani military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif said two civilians had been killed in a strike there.

A huge gamble by both countries’ leaderspublished at 23:57 British Summer Time 6 May

Anbarasan Ethirajan
South Asia editor, BBC World Service

It’s a dramatic escalationbetween the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Even though there were expectations thatIndia could launch some sort of military action, the intensity of the missileattacks inside Pakistan had surprised many.

India says that some of the placesit was bombing were linked to militants, and they were not targeting Pakistanimilitary sites.

Pakistan has vowed retaliation, and the nature and targets of this willdetermine Delhi’s counter-reaction.

Both countries think they can manage escalation, but tensions are running high and it’s difficult to predict thecourse of any military conflict.

In the past the US and other countriesintervened to rein them in.

With the Trump administration’s focusdiverted due to other global issues, it remains to be seen how quicklyWashington will step in to de-escalate.

Political leaders in both countries will want to show their public that they have acted decisively and claimvictory.

They have taken a huge gamble.

More now from Pakistan military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who is speaking to our colleagues on the BBC News channel.

He says the military has shot down at least two Indian jets and a drone.

Sharif says Pakistani forces are on the ground but refuses to specify where.

He says Pakistan has a right to defend itself and that defence is currently under way.

The Reuters news agency meanwhile is quoting Pakistan’s defence minister as making the same claim that Indian planes have been shot down.

There has been no comment on this claim from India and the BBC is unable to independently verify it.

Seven people have died including at least two children, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, a spokesperson for the Pakistani military, tells the BBC.

Sharif says the strikes hit multiple locations including a mosque.

“This is flagrant violation of international law,” he says.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has just issued a statement,.

He says: “The treacherous enemy has launched a cowardly attack on five locations within Pakistan. This heinous act of aggression will not go unpunished.

“Pakistan reserves the absolute right to respond decisively to this unprovoked Indian attack — a resolute response is already underway.

“The entire nation stands united behind its armed forces, and our morale and resolve remain unshaken.Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave officers and soldiers of Pakistan.

“The people of Pakistan and its forces are fully prepared to confront and defeat any threat with our strength and determination.

“The enemy will never be allowed to achieve its malicious aims.”