India attacked Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday and Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian fighter jets in the worst fighting in more than 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.
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 hospitalized, the sources added. Indian defence ministry officials were not immediately available to confirm the report.
Images circulating on local media showed a large, damaged cylindrical chunk of silver-coloured metal lying in a field at one of the crash sites. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the image.
Islamabad denounced the brazen acts as a “blatant act of war” and communicated to the U.N. Security Council that Pakistan holds the right to respond fittingly to Indian aggression. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, serving as the spokesman for the Pakistan military, emphatically declared that Pakistan would “respond to this aggression at a time, place, and means of our own choice.”
“All of these actions have been undertaken as defensive measures,” Chaudhry stated resolutely. “However, we will pursue all necessary steps to defend the honour, integrity, and sovereignty of Pakistan, regardless of the cost.”
In addition, the South Asian neighbours engaged in intense exchanges of shelling and heavy gunfire along extensive stretches of their unofficial borderline in the scenic yet tumultuous Himalayan region of Kashmir, according to reports from police and eyewitness accounts conveyed to Reuters.