NDTV, Srinagar :
Six Air Force officers and a civilian were killed after an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper crashed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam on Wednesday morning, a senior police officer told NDTV. The crash took place in the backdrop of heavy shelling and firing from across the border on a day IAF fighter jets crossed the Line of Control and destroyed a vast terror camp within Pakistan in a pre-dawn strike on Tuesday.
Hours after the crash, India said an Air Force pilot is “missing in action” after an Indian Air Force aircraft shot down a Pakistani jet that was targeting installations in India. The statement from the foreign ministry came after Pakistan claimed “strikes across Line of Control from within Pakistani airspace”. Pakistan has claimed that the MiG 21 pilot is in their custody.
A Pakistani F-16 aircraft crashed on its territory, in the Lam Valley area along the Line of Control. “The Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
Airports in Amritsar, Jammu, Srinagar and Leh – close to the border with Pakistan – were shut temporarily. All airspace at Jammu, Srinagar and Leh, close to the border with Pakistan, were shut down on Wednesday, sources say. The order on shutdown of airports has been withdrawn.
Another reports add :
The government on Wednesday said it expects the “immediate and safe return” of an Indian Air Force pilot captured by Pakistan after an air combat between the two sides for the first time since 1971, which marked the worst escalation between the neighbours in decades.
In a demarche handed over to the Pakistani envoy in the evening, India lodged a strong protest at what it called an “unprovoked act of aggression by Pakistan”, saying its jets had targeted military installations in India a day after India’s air strike to target a terror camp in Balakot.
“India also strongly objects to Pakistan’s vulgar display of an injured personnel of the Indian Air Force in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention. It was made clear that Pakistan would be well advised to ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel in its custody,” said New Delhi in its statement. Pakistan initially claimed it had two Indian pilots, but amended later that “there is only one pilot” and he is being treated “as per norms of military ethics”. In various videos circulated by Pakistani accounts, the pilot was seen blindfolded and wounded, his arms tied behind his back, being interrogated. The videos were quickly taken off as Pakistan faced allegations of violating the Geneva Convention for prisoners. Later, a video showed the pilot sipping tea, saying that “officers of the Pakistani army have looked after me well”.
Pakistan said in a statement that it had carried out “strikes across Line of Control from within Pakistani airspace”. Islamabad said it was “not retaliation” and it had “no intention of escalation”, but a demonstration that it was fully prepared to do so if forced. “That is why we undertook the action with clear warning and in broad daylight,” it said.
In response, the government said its pilot was “missing in action” after shooting down a Pakistani aircraft that was targeting Indian military installations. The Pakistani F-16 aircraft, shot down by the MiG Bison, crashed on Pakistani territory in the Lam Valley area.
