Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said early Wednesday that India's strikes on Pakistani cities and Pakistan-administered Kashmir were a "cowardly attack" and that Islamabad was giving a “befitting reply” to the “act of war" by New Delhi as death toll from missile attacks climbed to 26.

Earlier, India said it launched missile strikes targeting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan military spokesperson Lt Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told a news conference on Wednesday that another 46 people, including women and children, have been injured in Indian missile attacks in different parts of the country.

Most of the deceased were reported from northeastern Ahmedpur Sharqia town, where 13 people, including women and children, were killed in a missile strike on a mosque, he went on to say.

He accused the Indian army of targeting at least two hydropower structures of Pakistan, terming it a violation of international "norms and laws."

"Pakistani reserves the right to respond and will do so at a time and place of choosing," Chaudhry said.

“The enemy will never be allowed to succeed in his nefarious objectives,” he added.

Earlier, India said it launched missile strikes targeting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Chaudhry said India fired missiles on the cities of Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh, Ahmadpur Sharqia, Muzaffarabad and Kotli from its airspace.

In retaliation, he claimed the country’s military downed five Indian Air Force jets, and a drone.

In a related development, Pakistan partially reopened its air space for regular flights on Wednesday, Geo News reported civil aviation authority.

Pakistan also approached the UN Security Council and told the top world body that the Indian strikes posed a threat to international peace and security.

The UN Security Council “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-defense as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter," a Foreign Ministry statement.

The escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors comes in the wake of an April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir in which 26 people were killed. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, claiming there were cross-border links. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings.

In a separate statement, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called the Indian attack an "unprovoked and blatant act of war" and a violation of its sovereignty.

Separately, Pakistan's Punjab province, which has a border with India, declared a state of emergency and ordered the closure of all educational institutions Wednesday. Schools were also closed in the capital Islamabad. (Anadolu Agency, but headline rejigged)