Three Indian fighter jets crashed on home territory: Indian security source

SRINAGAR: Three Indian fighter jets crashed on Wednesday on home territory, a senior Indian security source said, without giving the cause.

Two airplanes crashed in India-run Jammu and Kashmir, and another in India’s Punjab state, the source said. It was not immediately clear what had happened to the pilots, according to the AFP report.

Wreckage of an Indian fighter jet was seen by an AFP photographer at Wuyan — on the Indian controlled side of Kashmir.

The crashes came after New Delhi launched missile strikes on Pakistan, and the two sides then fired heavy artillery along their contested frontier.

In a swift and decisive response to India’s missile attack, Pakistan’s military shot down five Indian aircraft and destroyed an Indian brigade headquarter, Pakistan’s Defence Minister said.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg TV that Pakistan’s military shot down five Indian jets and multiple drones in response to India’s airstrikes along the Line of Control. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also confirmed this, stating that the jets were downed in various locations.

The military told Reuters the downed jets included Rafale, Su-30, and MiG-29 planes, saying they targeted Indian aircraft after they attacked Pakistan.

“India’s misadventure will be met with a befitting response,” the DG ISPR said.