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- India last week struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles over an attack in the disputed Kashmir region
- Four missiles struck a mosque and an adjacent house in Muridke, killing three civilians and injuring two others
KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir will personally finance the reconstruction of a mosque damaged by an Indian missile strike in the Muridke city of Punjab’s Sheikhupura district, a Pakistani federal minister announced on Monday.
India last week struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles over an attack in the disputed Kashmir region. The strikes drew a “precise, proportionate” response from Islamabad.
However, four Indian missiles hit a mosque and an adjacent house within a complex in Muridke that New Delhi said belonged to a militant group, an allegation Pakistan has denied.
On Monday, Food Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Gen Munir and other officials paid a visit to the Government Jamia Ummul Qura Mosque in the eastern Pakistani city.
“Announcing the government’s decision to reconstruct the mosque, he (Hussain) stated that the PM and the army chief have pledged to rebuild the mosque at their personal expense,” the Pakistani Ministry of National Food Security and Research said in a statement.
The Indian strikes had killed three Pakistani civilians and injured two others, according to Pakistani media.
During Monday’s visit, Pakistani officials met with the injured civilians and inquired about their well-being, according to the national food ministry. They announced top-tier medical care along with support for the families of the martyrs.
The visit came as director generals of military operations from India and Pakistan held talks, Reuters reported, following a US-brokered ceasefire that stopped four days of intense drone, missile and artillery fire.
Last week’s hostilities were triggered by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, Islamabad denied it.
Kashmir has remained a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the region in full but ruling it in part. Both countries have fought two of their three wars over the region.