Pakistan Air Force jet shot down; Indian pilot ‘missing in action’ Pakistan official summoned IAF's Mi-17 transport chopper crashes in J&K's Budgam, five dead Pakistan army spokesperson claims two Indian jets shot down, one pilot arrested In response to PAF strikes this morning as released by MoFA, IAF crossed LOC. PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts in… https://t.co/mH0HhZjsbR — Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) 1551248355000 Defence sources deny Pakistan's claim Flight operations resume after being temporarily shut Pakistan closes airports of major cities (Image courtesy: Flight Radar 24) Ceasefire violation by Pakistan across LOC One Mig 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force was shot down and its pilot has been ‘missing in action’, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Wednesday. Kumar also told reporters that one fighter jet of Pakistan Air Force was also shot down in the aerial engagement by IAF's Mig 21 Bison. The Pakistani jet was seen falling down on the other side by the Indian ground forces, he said. "We lost one Mig 21 jet and the pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that the pilot is in their custody. We have to ascertain these facts," Kumar said.The air-to-air engagement took place after PAF jets violated Indian air space to target military installations on the Indian side.The press briefing came soon after reports emerged that jets from Pakistan Air Force have violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Nowshera sectors. The attack was successfully repelled by the Indian AIr Force, Kumar added.Pakistan deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah summoned by the ministry of external affairs, according to ANI.Meanwhile, five persons died after a Mi-17 transport chopper crashed in Budgam district, reported ANI.One of the deceased persons has been identified as Kifayat Hussain Ganaie, a loc al resident, while the identity of other four -- believed to be IAF personnel -- is being ascertained, officials said.Spokesperson of Pakistan armed forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor, in a tweet, claimed that two Indian Air Force jets were shot down by Pakistan Air Force and one Indian pilot was also arrested.However, briefing the media, he added that Pakistan had "no engagement with Indian aircraft which crashed on the Indian side (in Budgam)".There are no reports of any IAF jet suffering damage in action by India's adversaries, PTI reported quoting defence sources.Flight operations in North India resumed after they were temporarily suspended in the wake of the security situation along the Pakistan border. Flight operations resumed after NOTAM (Notice to Airmen to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route) was withdrawn, reported ANI.On Wednesday morning, airports of Srinagar, Jammu, Leh and several other cities were closed for civilian air traffic. "The civilian air traffic has been suspended temporarily in view of the emergency," an official of the Airport Authority of India told PTI.Flight operations were also been suspended at Amritsar and Dehradun airport, reported ANI.Entire airspace north of Delhi vacated: official sources. Pakistan air space too was closed, AFP reported quoting Pakistan's aviation authority.Pakistan immediately stopped its domestic and international flight operations from Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Islamabad airports, reported ANI.Flight operations were suspended across major airports in Pakistan's Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.International flights that transit between Indian and Pakistani airspace now being affected. Some flights returning to origin, while others appear to be seeking alternate routing.On Wednesday, Pakistan violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector in Baramulla district, officials said. The Indian Army strongly retaliated and effectively to the cross border firing.<doc-sep>Gain a global perspective on the US and go beyond with curated news and analysis from 600 journalists in 50+ countries covering politics, business, innovation, trends and more.<doc-sep>Pakistan carried out air strikes and shot down two Indian jets on Wednesday, Pakistani officials said, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a war in 1971, prompting several world powers to urge both sides to show restraint. Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations. Tension has been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called on Wednesday for talks with India and hoped "better sense" would prevail so that both sides could de-escalate. "History tells us that wars are full of miscalculation. My question is that given the weapons we have can we afford miscalculation," Khan said during a brief televised broadcast to the nation. "We should sit down and talk." India's attack on Tuesday had targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed credit for the suicide attack. India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, but Pakistani officials said the strike was a failure and inflicted no casualties. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947 and went to the brink a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament. The latest escalation marks a sudden turnaround in relations between the two countries, that both claim the mountainous Himalayan region of Kashmir in full but rule in part. As recently as November, Pakistan Khan spoke of "mending ties" with India. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid "further military activity" following Tuesday's air strike. "I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost," Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday. "I also encouraged both ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity," he said. Both China and the European Union have also called for restraint.<doc-sep>
Pakistan shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft after they crossed into its airspace, the army said. The incident comes amid an ongoing border crisis between the two nuclear powers. The Pakistani Air Force downed “two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace” after they crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, the army’s spokesperson, Major General Asif Ghafoor, tweeted. It was later revealed that one of the machines was a MiG 21 fighter jet. 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 According to the spokesperson, one aircraft fell inside the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir, while the other went down inside the territory controlled by India. Ghafoor stated in a press briefing that two pilots were “recovered and provided all necessary medical treatment.” The government later clarified that only one Indian pilot was captured. A video released by Radio Pakistan shows the man blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. Islamabad also claimed it conducted airstrikes into Indian-held Kashmir. At the same time, media had reported on an Indian Mi-17 military helicopter crashing inside the Indian-controlled area of Kashmir. It is not clear if it was one of the aircraft downed by Pakistan. Read more There were also reports of India shooting down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet. However, Islamabad dismissed them as false. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Pakistani Army stated that the military was acting “purely in self-defense.” “War is no solution. The people of both nations deserve to live in peace,” Asif Ghafoor said. Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, while on a trip to China, stated New Delhi wishes to avoid any “further escalation of the situation” and will “continue to act with responsibility and restraint.” Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated dramatically on Wednesday with reports of cross-border shelling along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Pakistani officials said that at least four civilians were killed from mortar fire. The Indian Army said that five of its soldiers were wounded during the shelling from Pakistan. On Tuesday, New Delhi sent a dozen jets to bomb what it said were terrorist camps on Pakistani soil. It was the first time since 1971, when the Indian Air Force crossed the LoC. Islamabad said that the raid failed to produce any damage on the ground and vowed to respond to any “misadventures” along the border with India. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!