By Online Desk On the day Pakistan handed back IAF fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to India at Wagah, news has emerged that the Pakistan F-16 pilot Wing Commander Shahaz-ud-Din, downed on Wednesday, ended up being lynched by a mob in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) after being mistaken for an Indian. According to journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, the pilot of the crashed PAF F-16 was Wing Commander Shahzaz-ud-Din of the No 19 Squadron (sherdils). Russian TV channel RT news also quoted another journalist Ajay Jandyal confirming that the pilot was Shahzaz . The news of the Pakistan F-16 crashing was first reported by London-based lawyer Khalid Umar. Firstpost's Praveen Swami now claims that Umar was told by relatives of Shahaz-ud-Din of the sad fate that befell him. ALSO READ: Pakistan returns IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to India; describes him as 'POW' Umar says that after parachuting out of his aircraft, Shahaz landed in the Laam valley that stretches westward from Naushehra to PoK. He was attacked by an angry mob who mistook him for an IAF pilot and ended up lynching him. The Wing Commander flew for the crack 19 Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force and was the son of an Air Marshal, who had flown both the F-16 and the Mirage 2000. ALSO READ: Those baying for war should fight it themselves, says widow of Squadron Leader Pakistani military spokesperson Major-General Asif Ghafoor had on Wednesday asserted that two Indian jets were shot down and two Indian pilots were captured. He had tweeted that while one of these pilots was in Pakistan armed forces' custody, the other had been admitted to the hospital. Swami quoted an Indian source as saying that the second 'Indian' pilot whom Ghafoor had initially spoken about might have been Shahaz. "There was probably miscommunication up the chain of command,” the military source explained.<doc-sep>Did Pak count its own F-16 jet as one of IAF? Pic of PAF’s shot down jet surfaces Initially, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Asif Ghafoor, the DG of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had claimed that PAF had shot down two IAF aircraft and captured its pilots. news Conflict A picture of the wreckage of a Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jet, which was shot down by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and landed in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Wednesday, has now surfaced. According to ANI, the photograph shows Commanding Officer of Pakistan’s 7 Northern Light Infantry inspecting the wreckage. The picture comes a day after the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) violated Indian airspace, with IAF jets then scrambling and engaging in a dogfight across the Line of Control (LoC). This resulted in PAF’s F-16 being downed, while IAF in turn also lost one of its MiG-21 aircraft. Both jets landed in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Initially, Pakistan’s Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director general (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had claimed that PAF had shot down two IAF aircraft and captured two of its pilots. Pakistan Prime Minster Imran Khan in his address on Wednesday had also claimed that the PAF had shot down two Indian’s jets and taken into custody its “pilots”. Although a Pakistani military spokesperson later clarified that it had in its custody only one IAF pilot, it appears Pakistan’s wrong assessment over the shooting down of its F-16 jet had led to the erroneous claim, both by Imran Khan and Major General Asif Ghafoor. In the press conference on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said, “The Pakistan Air Force was detected and the Indian Air Force responded instantly. In that aerial engagement, one Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force. The Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side. In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG 21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts.” MEA’s briefing came after Pakistan released a video of the IAF pilot it had captured. While the MEA is yet to name the IAF pilot, subsequent videos released by Pakistan showed that he identified himself as Wing Commander Abhinandan. Later on Wednesday, the Indian government “strongly objected to the vulgar display of an injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention.” The escalation of tension between India and Pakistan comes after IAF carried out air strikes across the LoC on terror camps belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had claimed responsibility for the attack in Pulwama that killed over 40 CRPF jawans.<doc-sep>The encounter between the Indian and Pakistani air forces above the disputed Kashmir region on 27 February resulted in the downing of two Indian jets and allegedly a Pakistani F-16, according to New Delhi. Islamabad denies losing a plane. Not only was a Pakistani F-16 allegedly shot down in a dogfight with Indian jets on Wednesday, but the pilot, Shahaz-ud-Din, was reportedly killed after successfully bailing out from the doomed aircraft, the newspaper Firstpost reported, citing London-based lawyer Khalid Umar. The lawyer, who says that he obtained the information from the pilot's family, claims that Shahaz-ud-Din was mistaken by locals in the Pakistani Nowshera sector as a pilot from a downed Indian jet and was subsequently lynched by a mob. According to Umar, the Pakistani pilot was eventually rescued by the Pakistani Army, but later died from the injuries he sustained in the assault. Relations between the two states worsened after a deadly terrorist attack on a security convoy on 14 February, reportedly organised by the group Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed the lives of 40 Indian paramilitary servicemen. New Delhi has accused Islamabad of harbouring terrorists and organised an air raid against an alleged terror camp located on Pakistani territory. READ MORE: India to Give US Proof Pakistan Used F-16 Jets in Kashmir Air Battle — Reports The following day after the air raid, Pakistan announced that it had downed two Indian jets that entered its airspace over the disputed Kashmir border, also capturing an Indian pilot. At the same time, the Indian Air Force stated that one of its MiG-21 Bison had shot down a Pakistani Air Force F-16 during the clash, while Islamabad has denied sustaining any losses or even scrambling an F-16. Pakistan later released one of the Indian pilots "as a peace gesture" on 1 March.<doc-sep>India’s claim that its MiG-21 fighter jet shot down a more modern Pakistani Air Force F-16 seems surprising at first, but a military expert tells RT there is more to the Indian Air Force than meets the eye. The IAF confirmed that one of its MiG-21 fighters downed a PAF F-16 on Thursday, two days after Pakistan said that it had shot down two Indian jets as tensions continue to mount between the two nuclear powers over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Read more News reports from battle zones often contain “inaccuracies or deliberate disinformation,” but it doesn’t mean that a MiG-21 couldn’t have hit an F-16, even though the two planes are of completely “different generations,” Mikhail Khodarenok, military expert and retired colonel who served in Russian missile defense forces, told RT. MiG-21 is a third-generation supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, which was introduced into the Soviet military in 1959. The F-16 is a fourth-generation supersonic multirole fighter, which entered service with the US Air Force almost two decades later. Obviously, the F-16 has much more advanced characteristics, including the combat radius of 547 km, compared to 370 km of MiG-21. However, Khodarenok explained that the MiG-21-93 ‘Bison’ used by the Indian Air Force is “a largely modernized version of the aircraft.” "Its ‘Spear’ radar system allows tracking down incoming enemy aircraft at a distance of up to 57 kilometers” in the front and up to 30 kilometers in the rear. It can track eight targets at the same time, with “the quick search and automatic capture of visually observed targets in close combat mode concluding with the use of guided missiles or cannon.” Also on rt.com From F-16s & Russian MiGs to old French planes: What India & Pakistan can unleash in air combat MiG-21 Bison boasts medium-range R-77 air-to-air self-guided missiles as part of its arsenal. They have a range of 110 kilometers and can reach the speed of 4250 km/h, while carrying a 22-kilogram warhead, he said. “So MiG-21-93 could’ve well shot down an F-16. And could’ve done it easily,” Khodarenok said. “Besides, the best plane is the one with the best pilot inside. The rest is details.” Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!<doc-sep>
Pakistan Air Force Wing Commander Shahaz-ud-Din, the F-16 pilot shot down in a dogfight over the Nowshera sector, is reported to have been lynched by a mob who mistook him for an Indian airman New Delhi: Even as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman walked across the India-Pakistan border on 1 March, a family in Pakistan is in mourning — silent, blacked out from the public view, their sacrifice unacknowledged. Pakistan Air Force Wing Commander Shahaz-ud-Din, the F-16 pilot shot down in a dogfight over the Nowshera sector, is reported to have been lynched by a mob who mistook him for an Indian airman. Both men, in one of those strange twists history revels in, come from illustrious military families: Wing Commander Varthaman’s father, S Varthaman, as Air Marshal; Shahaz-ud-Din’s father, Waseem-ud-Din, is also an Air Marshal of the Pakistan Air Force, who has flown F-16 and Mirages. The two sons engaged each other in the air; one was taken a prisoner of war and has returned home, while the other was killed by his own people. The goddess of war, it is said, is fickle with her favours — but few twists of fate exist in the annals of history to match this one. The news that Shahaz-ud-Din's plane was shot down was first reported by London-based lawyer Khalid Umar, who says he received it privately, from individuals related to the F-16 pilot’s family. Umar’s account says that Shahaz-ud-Din parachuted out of his aircraft safely, but was then attacked by a mob after the F-16 crash-landed — possibly in the Laam valley, stretching out westward from Naushehra into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Shahaz-ud-Din, Umar has claimed, was hospitalised, but succumbed to his injuries. The PAF Wing Commander flew for the 19 Squadron, also known as the ‘Sher-Dils’, who served with distinction in the war of 1965 and 1971. Pakistani military spokesperson Major-General Asif Ghafoor had asserted, on the morning of 28 February, that two Indian jets had been shot down and two Indian pilots injured — one of whom was in army custody, and the other in the hospital. Later in the evening, Major-General Ghafoor stated that only one Indian pilot was in Pakistan Army custody, without explaining his earlier comments. “It’s extremely improbable the Pakistan Army just made up the second plane and pilot,” an Indian military source says. "The more likely explanation is that troops were unable to identify the destroyed aircraft or the battered, broken body to be their own. There was probably miscommunication up the chain of command.” In the 1999 Kargil War, Pakistan had denied its troops were involved — leading to protests in Pakistan’s northern areas, from where the Northern Light Infantry is drawn. Eleven years after the Kargil War, Pakistan’s army officially acknowledged its role, naming 453 soldiers and officers killed in the 1999 conflict. Captain Karnal Sher and Havildar Lalak Jan, who were both killed on 7 July, 1999, were awarded Pakistan’s highest honour, the Nishan-e-Haider, but were not acknowledged as Kargil war casualties until November 2010.