Pakistan downs intruder Indian projectile
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Army on Thursday said Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down a ‘flying object’ from India that entered Pakistani airspace and violated international conventions. Addressing a press conference, the Director-General of the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) Major Gen Babar Iftikhar said that Pakistan strongly condemned the Indian violation of its airspace on March 9 at 6.30 pm in the Mian Chanoo area.
The DG ISPR said that the Indian supersonic missile hits inside Pakistan territory near Mian Channu in Khanewal. He said Pakistan Air Force (PAF) monitored the object thoroughly. “As a responsible nation, we did no provocation. Our investigations are underway to ascertain whether it was missile or something else. It covered the distance of 260 kilometers at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
The object coming from India was supersonic,” he said. He stated that this projectile could be dangerous for domestic flights as well as civilian property on the ground. He stated that India must explain this issue. Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said that all information has been given to the Foreign Office and the issue would be raised at the international level.
He said that the ‘flying object’ travelled 124kms inside Pakistan from India. The DG ISPR said no casualties took place because of the incident. He asked the media to avoid speculations on the matter and Pakistan Army is monitoring the situation closely. Pakistan Army spokesperson said we are waiting for an explanation from the Indian side about the incident as India has been conducting such tests in the recent past.
“The speed and travel distance show that it was a missile,” DG ISPR said but added to avoid speculation on the matters as Pakistan is still waiting for an explanation from New Delhi. Speaking about an uptick of terrorism incidents in the country, the DG ISPR said that the country’s armed forces are taking prompt actions to thwart the nefarious designs of the enemy.
“So far, we have killed 80 terrorists during the past few weeks,” he said. Replying to a question, DG ISPR said that Pakistan Army has nothing to do with the politics and asked the journalists to focus only on the March 9 issue in his press conference.