Pakistan Shoot Down Indian Warplanes, Vows Response to Strikes

On Wednesday, a Pakistani official said it shot down five Indian fighter jets after India attacked Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. This attack is the worst war in over two decades between the nuclear-armed enemies.

The Indian hits on targets in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab were the first since their last full-scale war more than half a century ago, triggering fears of a further escalation of military hostilities.

According to Indian officials, it struck nine Pakistani “terrorist infrastructure” sites, some of them linked to an attack by Islamist militants on Hindu tourists that killed 26 people in Indian Kashmir last month. India had earlier said two of three suspects in that attack were Pakistani nationals but had not detailed any evidence.

Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings. Islamabad stated that “six Pakistani locations were targeted, and none of them were militant camps. According to a Pakistan military spokesperson, at least 26 civilians were killed and 46 wounded.

Indian forces attacked facilities linked to Islamist militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, two Indian military spokespersons told a briefing in New Delhi.

According to the spokespersons, the strikes were directed at “terrorist camps” that served as recruitment, launchpad, and indoctrination centres, as well as housing weapons and training facilities. They stated that Indian forces deployed specialised technology weaponry and carefully selected warheads to avoid collateral damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure, but did not elaborate on the specifics or methods used in the attacks.

Pakistan claimed Indian missiles targeted three facilities, and a military spokesperson told Reuters that five Indian planes had been shot down, a claim that India denied.

However, four local government sources in Indian Kashmir told Reuters that three fighter jets had crashed in separate areas of the Himalayan region during the night. All three pilots had been hospitalised, the sources added. Indian defence ministry officials were not immediately available to confirm the report.