New Delhi/Jammu: A day after Indian Air Force attacked terror bases in Pakistan and eliminated around 350 militants, high tension continued in the border. Pakistani fighter jets today violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Nowshera sectors but were pushed back by Indian aircraft, senior officials said. The Pakistani jets dropped bombs while returning, officials said.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage. “The jets entered Indian air space over Nowshera and Poonch sectors this morning,” officials said. They were immediately pushed back by Indian jets on air patrol. A few reports claimed that the Pakistan jets were gunned down by India.
VILLAGERS AS HUMAN SHIELDS
According to reports, Pakistan initiated unprovoked cease fire violation by shelling with heavy calibre weapons in 12 to 15 places all along the LoC. Indian Army retaliated and its focused fire resulted in severe destruction to Pakistan Army. Pakistan troops were also seen firing Mortars and Missiles from civilian houses, using villagers as human shields, however Indian Army targeted the Pakistan posts away from civilian localities.
Meanwhile, Pakistan today reportedly claimed gunning down of Indian aircraft that attempted to launch an attack in its land. Also, an IAF aircraft crashed on Wednesday in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing two people, officials said.
Officials in Srinagar described the downed aircraft as a jet, which crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village in Budgam at 10.05 am. Other officials in New Delhi said it was an Mi-17 helicopter. The conflicting reports could not be immediately reconciled. The Srinagar officials said the aircraft broke into two and caught fire immediately.
AIRPORTS CLOSED
Srinagar, Jammu and Leh airports were among five airports closed on Wednesday for civilian air traffic shortly after an IAF jet crashed in Kashmir’s Budgam district, officials said. The move to close the five airports comes amid escalation of tension between India and Pakistan after IAF carried out strikes on terror bases in Pakistan.
Airports at Chandigarh and Amritsar were among those closed, according to airline officials. In Srinagar, an official of the Airports Authority of India told PTI, “The civilian air traffic has been suspended temporarily in view of the emergency.”
While the official did not specify the nature of the emergency, it is believed the step was taken in view of an IAF jet crashing in Budgam district this morning.
Officials said they received instructions from air traffic controllers that the airports have been shut for civilian flights.
Some of the flights en route to Jammu, Leh and Srinagar airports have been diverted to their origin stations, they added.
The flare up in the cross-LoC shelling, which was initiated by Pakistani troops in early hours of Wednesday, has also resulted in security forces and other establishments being put on a heightened alert.
RAJNATH IN ACTION
Home Minister Rajnath Singh Wednesday reviewed the security situation in the country, especially along the border with Pakistan, a day after Indian fighter jets bombed the biggest camp of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad in that country, officials said.
During the meeting, attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval among others, a detailed presentation was given about the security situation in the country and steps taken to ensure peace in all sensitive places.
Singh directed the officials to ensure the Border Security Force, which guards the India-Pakistan border continues to remain on highest level of alertness so that any misadventure from across the border could be foiled, a home ministry official said.
Those who attended the meeting include Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Intelligence Bureau Director Rajiv Jain. In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest training camp in Pakistan early Tuesday, killing up to 350 terrorists and trainers who were moved there for their protection after the Pulwama attack, officials said.
YESTERDAY NEVER DIES
The pre-dawn operation described as ‘non-military’ and ‘preemptive’ struck a five-star resort style camp on a hilltop forest that provided a dozen Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with a ‘sitting duck target’ and caught the terrorists in their sleep, sources said. The strike is the first by the IAF inside Pakistan after the 1971 war.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the media that the ‘intelligence-led operation’ on the Pakistan-based terror group’s biggest training camp in Balakot became ‘absolutely necessary’ as it was planning more suicide attacks in India, after the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in which 40 soldiers were killed.
The JeM claimed responsibility for the Pulwama strike.