PAPakistan has claimed to have shot down two Indian Air Force jets in a move which will surely result in an escalation of the Kashmir conflict.
A military spokesman said one of the planes had fallen within the Pakistani border and a surviving pilot has reportedly been arrested.
Pakistan says the shooting was warranted because the Indian Air Force crafts were flying inside Pakistan airspace.
In response to PAF strikes this morning as released by MoFA, IAF crossed LOC. PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace. One of the aircraft fell inside AJ&K while other fell inside IOK. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area.
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 27, 2019
It marks an escalation of back and forth conflict.
Major General Asfi Ghafoor, of the Pakistan Air Force, tweeted:
In response to PAF strikes this morning as released by MoFA, IAF crossed LOC. PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace.
One of the aircraft fell inside AJK while other fell inside IOK. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area.
Indian authorities are yet to confirm the Pakistani claim.
Indian aircrafts’ intrusion across LOC in Muzafarabad Sector within AJ&K was 3-4 miles.Under forced hasty withdrawal aircrafts released payload which had free fall in open area. No infrastructure got hit, no casualties. Technical details and other important information to follow.
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 26, 2019
Payload of hastily escaping Indian aircrafts fell in open. pic.twitter.com/8drYtNGMsm
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 26, 2019
Also on Wednesday 27 Febraury, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Pakistani jets had launched air strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Pakistan said it had ‘taken strikes at [a] non-military target, avoiding human loss and collateral damage’. Indian authorities said the Pakistani jets had been pushed back.
However, since the latest Pakistani claim of two jets being shot down, Indian military also claim to have shot down a Pakistani aircraft.
The Economic Times reports India had shot down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 which violated Indian air space and added the Union home minister Rajnath Singh will be holding a high-level meeting at North block in New Delhi.
Those raids follow a militant attack in Kashmir which killed 40 Indian troops. Equally, four Pakistani civilians were killed and 10 others injured in cross-border shelling on Tuesday.
Indian officials told the BBC five Indian soldiers were also injured in the firing and schools in at least two districts along the line of control – namely Rajouri and Poonch – have been closed.
आज सिन्धु ने विष उगला है,
लहरों का यौवन मचला है।आज ह्रदय में और सिन्धु में, साथ उठा है ज्वार,
तूफानों की ओर घुमा दो, नाविक निज पतवार।#NationFirst#IndianArmedForces @IAF_MCC @indiannavy pic.twitter.com/MxShj9VPLr— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) February 26, 2019
People living near the de facto border have also been told to leave their homes for their own safety, causing catastrophic civilian upheaval.
Both India and Pakistan claim all of Muslim-majority Kashmir, but control only parts of it. The two nuclear powers have fought three wars and a limited conflict since independence from Britain in 1947 – and all but one were over Kashmir.
Indian NavyThis exception was known as the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, and marks the last time aerial attacks across the line of control occurred between the two countries up until now.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.