Dozens of people gathered around a vast complex in the Pakistani city of Muridke on Wednesday (May 7) morning to witness the damage firsthand.

Over the past night, Indian missiles have bombarded the complex in Pakistan's Punjab region, not far from the Indian border and a short drive from the main city of Lahore.

"Mainly mosques were targeted," said one man, "and the sky lit up and it felt like it was turning red." ”

Another witness said: "Suddenly a missile appeared and then exploded. I immediately ran out of the house. ”

"I just walked to the mosque near my house and there were three more explosions in a row. I heard those three explosions, very loud. ”

Why is it being targeted?

From a road surrounded by dense residential buildings, the BBC team saw a partially collapsed building with rubble scattered over a large area.

Rescuers are still searching the rubble for the wounded and victims.

The complex houses a hospital, a school, and a mosque. India says its targets are facilities linked to "terrorist groups" – so why is it being targeted? The answer seems to have something to do with the context of its past.

Until a few years ago, it was originally used by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The organization is an armed group based in Pakistan and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United Nations.

Later, it was used by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which some observers believe to be a frontline organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Both groups have been banned by the Pakistani government and the facilities have been taken over by the authorities.

On Tuesday night, the complex became a target for the Indian army.

India has vowed to respond to last month's killing of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 25 Indians and one Nepalese.

Two of the attackers were Pakistani citizens, according to Indian police, and the local government accused Pakistan of supporting militants.

India has launched airstrikes on various locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, calling these sites "terrorist infrastructure" and the sites where attacks were planned and directed.

The Pakistani government has denied any connection to the Pahalgam attack and has condemned the airstrike as a "heinous act of aggression."

One man told us that the Muridek building usually houses children from all over the country and studies in the madrasa, but most of them had been evacuated a week ago.

Later that day, the camera team was allowed to enter the scene to get a closer look at the damage.

The roof of a building collapsed as a result of an explosion. The walls of another building were blown out of holes, and a large amount of debris was scattered on the ground.

In this area, there is hope that there will be no more debris.

The leader of the armed group said 10 relatives were killed

The headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Bahawalpur, about 100 kilometres from the Pakistani border, was one of the targets in Tuesday's airstrike.

A leader of an armed group said 10 of his relatives were killed in a missile strike in India.

Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar said his sister, her husband, nephew and his wife, nieces and five children from his family were killed in a missile attack on a mosque in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

India said the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Bahawalpur, about 100 kilometres from the Pakistani border, was one of the targets.

Footage of the mosque, confirmed by BBC Verify, shows one of the domes having collapsed and badly damaged inside, including two holes in the roof and a pothole in the ground.

On Wednesday, in Bahawalpur, crowds held funerals in the streets for the dead in the airstrike, mourning the dead.

Local residents told the BBC that they were angry at the attack and worried about Pakistan's possible response next.

Massoud Azhar was released from Indian prisons in 1999 and later founded the Army of Mohammed. The United Nations Security Council has said it has ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The United Nations listed Azhar as a terrorist in 2019.

India has accused the group of being behind the 2001 attack on India's parliament, but Jaish-e-Mohammed has denied the allegations. In the aftermath, Pakistan announced the banning of the organization.

Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed to have carried out a bomb attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in February 2019 that killed 40 Indian militia policemen.

Pakistan said at least 31 people were killed and 57 injured in airstrikes on Tuesday night. India said at least 15 civilians were killed and 43 wounded in the Pakistani army's shelling in areas under its control.

The escalation of the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours has prompted an urgent call by the international community for restraint on both sides.