ndia Fires at Pakistani Planes
By Binoo Joshi
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Feb. 19, 2001; 12:27 p.m. EST
JAMMU, India –– Indian army gunners fired at two Pakistani
reconnaissance planes intruding into India's air space in Jammu-Kashmir
on Monday, officials said.
Army sources said one plane was believed to have been shot down, and
that there was "an explosion followed by smoke from the other side."
In New Delhi, an Indian Air Force source said the planes entered Indian
territory around 2:30 p.m. local time. The source said the planes are
believed to have been low-flying Mushaq trainer aircraft on a
reconnaissance mission.
Indian ground troops spotted them and opened fire, forcing them to
return, the air force officer said. The Indian military was looking for
wreckage in the area but it appeared that they had crossed over into
Pakistani territory, the sources said.
In Pakistan, army spokesman Col. Saulat Raza refused to comment.
Pakistan's air force said it had no knowledge of the incident.
Indian guns engaged the aircraft in the Chhamb Sector, said Col. S.P.K.
Singh, the northern command army spokesman. The area is about 35
miles northwest of Jammu, the state's winter capital.
India was lodging a complaint with Pakistan over the incident, the
spokesman said.
In the past, both India and Pakistan have alleged violations of air space
against each other, but Monday's incident was the first in more than a
year.
The worst air clash occurred in August 1999 when Indian fighter planes
shot down a Pakistani surveillance aircraft, the French-built Atlantic-I,
over Kori Creek, a boggy expanse in the western Kutch peninsula.
Sixteen Pakistani servicemen were killed.
A day later, Pakistani troops fired a surface-to-air missile toward three
Indian military helicopters flying journalists over the marshy border region.
In a separate development, Kashmiri militants killed 15 Indian soldiers and
wounded several others in an overnight attack on an army convoy in
troubled Kashmir, rebels said Monday.
Islamic guerrillas belonging to the Pakistan-based Al Badar Mujahedeen
group reportedly ambushed the military convoy with rockets, automatic
assault rifles and grenades. The attack occurred in Badgam in Indian
Kashmir, they said.
A statement issued by the group in Islamabad said rebels and Indian
troops waged a bitter gunbattle for several hours. One rebel was killed.
India accuses Pakistan of fomenting violence on its Kashmir territory and
of backing Islamic militants waging a 12-year secessionist uprising.
Pakistan denies the charge.
Both countries lay claim to a united Kashmir, which was divided between
the two uneasy neighbors after British rule of the region ended in 1947.
The two neighbors, who both now possess nuclear weapons, have twice
gone to war over Kashmir.
Pakistan, meanwhile, condemned India of what it called launching a
"campaign of terror and repression" in Kashmir.
Scores of peaceful civilians, including children, have been killed and
wounded by Indian army last week, Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
Pakistan also condemns the detention of Kashmiri separatist politicians
and demands their immediate release, it said.
By Binoo Joshi
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Feb. 19, 2001; 12:27 p.m. EST
JAMMU, India –– Indian army gunners fired at two Pakistani
reconnaissance planes intruding into India's air space in Jammu-Kashmir
on Monday, officials said.
Army sources said one plane was believed to have been shot down, and
that there was "an explosion followed by smoke from the other side."
In New Delhi, an Indian Air Force source said the planes entered Indian
territory around 2:30 p.m. local time. The source said the planes are
believed to have been low-flying Mushaq trainer aircraft on a
reconnaissance mission.
Indian ground troops spotted them and opened fire, forcing them to
return, the air force officer said. The Indian military was looking for
wreckage in the area but it appeared that they had crossed over into
Pakistani territory, the sources said.
In Pakistan, army spokesman Col. Saulat Raza refused to comment.
Pakistan's air force said it had no knowledge of the incident.
Indian guns engaged the aircraft in the Chhamb Sector, said Col. S.P.K.
Singh, the northern command army spokesman. The area is about 35
miles northwest of Jammu, the state's winter capital.
India was lodging a complaint with Pakistan over the incident, the
spokesman said.
In the past, both India and Pakistan have alleged violations of air space
against each other, but Monday's incident was the first in more than a
year.
The worst air clash occurred in August 1999 when Indian fighter planes
shot down a Pakistani surveillance aircraft, the French-built Atlantic-I,
over Kori Creek, a boggy expanse in the western Kutch peninsula.
Sixteen Pakistani servicemen were killed.
A day later, Pakistani troops fired a surface-to-air missile toward three
Indian military helicopters flying journalists over the marshy border region.
In a separate development, Kashmiri militants killed 15 Indian soldiers and
wounded several others in an overnight attack on an army convoy in
troubled Kashmir, rebels said Monday.
Islamic guerrillas belonging to the Pakistan-based Al Badar Mujahedeen
group reportedly ambushed the military convoy with rockets, automatic
assault rifles and grenades. The attack occurred in Badgam in Indian
Kashmir, they said.
A statement issued by the group in Islamabad said rebels and Indian
troops waged a bitter gunbattle for several hours. One rebel was killed.
India accuses Pakistan of fomenting violence on its Kashmir territory and
of backing Islamic militants waging a 12-year secessionist uprising.
Pakistan denies the charge.
Both countries lay claim to a united Kashmir, which was divided between
the two uneasy neighbors after British rule of the region ended in 1947.
The two neighbors, who both now possess nuclear weapons, have twice
gone to war over Kashmir.
Pakistan, meanwhile, condemned India of what it called launching a
"campaign of terror and repression" in Kashmir.
Scores of peaceful civilians, including children, have been killed and
wounded by Indian army last week, Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
Pakistan also condemns the detention of Kashmiri separatist politicians
and demands their immediate release, it said.
Comment