Two Indian aircraft have been shot down by the Pakistan Air Force, according to a spokesperson from the PAF. Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the two jets were shot down inside Pakistani airspace, with one falling in India-controlled Kashmir and the other falling in the section of Kashmir that is administered by Pakistan. Ghafoor initially stated that one pilot had been arrested, with Pakistan later claiming to have captured another two.
In an earlier press release, the Pakistan foreign ministry said that Pakistan had made strikes against “military targets” in Indian controlled territory with the “sole purpose being to demonstrate [their] right, will and capability for self defence“, claiming that the strikes were not a “retaliation“.
In a press conference, Ghafoor said that Pakistan was not making motions towards war by opting to launch strikes against an open area, instead of the “military post” that they had initially originally targeted.
This follows news that India conducted aerial bombing of a site in Pakistani territory that the Indian foreign secretary claimed to be a training site for militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Both India and Pakistan have laid claim to Kashmir since the advent Pakistan’s independence in 1947, each currently occupying a separate portion of the area.
Flights have been grounded and rerouted after restrictions were placed on the nearby airspace.
#Update1. Due to air space restrictions, flights UK611 (Delhi-Sringar-Jammu), UK612 (Jammu-Srinagar-Delhi), UK735 (Mumbai-Amritsar), UK736 (Amritsar-Mumbai), UK976 (Delhi-Amritsar) and UK707 (Amritsar-Delhi) stand cancelled for today. Please stay tuned for the updates.Thank you.
— Vistara (@airvistara) February 27, 2019
The BBC is reporting that India has denied that any of their planes have been shot down and that all their personnel are accounted for, while unconfirmed video footage that purportedly shows one of the Indian pilots in Pakistan military custody, wearing a blindfold and bleeding from the face, is circulating on Twitter.
This is a developing story.
