Pakistani fighter jets violate Indian air space

Pakistani fighter jets violated airspace over Indian Kashmir on Wednesday but were forced back over the de facto border of the disputed territory, sources and media reports said.

The incursion over the heavily militarised Line of Control comes a day after Indian warplanes carried out a strike in Pakistan on what New Delhi said was a militant training camp, in retaliation for a February 14 suicide bombing in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.

A top government official in Indian-administered Kashmir told AFP the Pakistani jets briefly crossed the frontier but were pushed back by the Indian Air Force.

The Press Trust of India reported that Pakistani fighter planes crossed at Poonch and Nowshera, two locations on the Indian side of the de facto border, but were repelled.

PTI said the Pakistani jets dropped bombs while returning but that there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Tensions have dramatically escalated between the nuclear-armed rivals since Indian warplanes flew into Pakistani airspace and struck what New Delhi said was a camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed the Kashmir bombing.

Islamabad, while denying the Indian strike caused any major damage or casualties, has vowed to retaliate fuelling fears of a dangerous confrontation in South Asia.

Source: AFP