NEW DELHI – Indian Air Force (IAF) have found that missile ofIsraeli-origin may have shot down its own Mi-17 V5 military chopper,following an alert on 27 Feb about 25 Pakistani fighter jets hovering overthe border area that separates the two countries, reported The EconomicTimes on Friday.
The incident had occurred a day after when a militant rammed his car loadedwith explosive material into a CRPF troop convoy in which over 40 personnelwere killed and many others left wounded.
The Mi-17 V5 helicopter lifted off from Srinagar airfield at 10:00 am localtime for a routine mission. The helicopter crashed around 10:10 am nearJammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district. All six Indian Air force (IAF)personnel on board were killed in the crash, a leading Indian dailyreported citing the initial report.
The investigation’s focus is to determine “if multiple layers of safeguardsmeant to protect assets from friendly fire failed and how systems need tobe improved to prevent any such incident in future”, it reported.
The Indian authorities maintain that the IAF strike was carried out againstsuspected militants infrastructure operated by JeM, the Pakistan-basedorganisation that claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack.
A day after the Indian side launched the air strike in Balakot (inPakistan), the two nuclear-armed nations engaged in an air crash, a firstin five decades.
According to reports, at least 25 fighter jets from the Pakistan Air Forcetried to breach the border for a strike on military targets. A slow movingtarget like the Mi-17 V5 helicopter could be mistaken for a low flyingarmed UAV homing into an air base, said the media report citing sources.
The IAF has stated it wouldn’t hesitate from initiating Court Martialproceedings against personnel found guilty in the inquiry.
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linkMaj Gen Asif Ghafoor✔@OfficialDGISPRlinklink
In response to PAF strikes this morning as released by MoFA, IAF crossedLOC. PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace. One ofthe aircraft fell inside AJ&K while other fell inside IOK. One Indian pilotarrested by troops on ground while two in the area.11:19 AM – Feb 27, 2019link
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On the other hand, Pakistan Air Force had claimed that PAF shot down twoIndian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace. One of the aircraft fell insideAJ&K [Azad Jammu and Kashmir] while the other fell inside IoK [Indianoccupied Kashmir]. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on the ground whiletwo in the area.
On the other hand India had claimed to shot down PAF F 16 which Pakistanout rightly rejected.
