India shot down Pakistani jet, 1 IAF pilot missing in action: MEA

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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on February 27 confirmed that one Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was missing in action and that Pakistan’s claims of his capture were still being ascertained.

MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also said that in an aerial engagement, one PAF fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the IAF.

"India had informed about Counter Terrorism (CT) action it took yesterday against a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pakistan based on credible evidence that JeM intended to launch more attacks,” Kumar said.

Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor was also present during the press conference.

“Against this Counter Terrorism Action, Pakistan has responded this morning by using its Air Force to target military installations on the Indian side. Due to our high state of readiness and alertness, Pakistan's attempts were foiled successfully,” he added.

Kumar said that a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft was detected and the Indian Air Force (IAF) responded "instantly."

"In that aerial engagement, one PAF fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force," Kumar said, adding that, “the Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side.”

“In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG 21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts," Kumar added.

#WATCH Raveesh Kumar, MEA: One Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by Indian Air Force. In this engagement, we have lost one MiG 21. Pilot is missing in action. Pakistan claims he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts. pic.twitter.com/Bm0nVChuzF

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— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2019

Earlier, Pakistan had claimed that its air force had shot down two IAF jets and that one aircraft fell in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), while the other fell in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India.

Pakistan’s Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (DGISPR) Major Gen. Asif Ghafoor has further claimed in a tweet that "one Indian pilot [was] arrested by troops on ground while two in the area (sic)."

Earlier in the day, Indian officials said Pakistani fighter jets had violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Nowshera sectors but were pushed back by Indian aircraft.

On February 26 night, the Indian Army destroyed five Pakistani posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir in a befitting retaliation to firing from across the border, resulting in a "number of casualties" to Pakistani troops, a defence official had said.

In a press conference on February 26, Foreign Affairs Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said India struck the biggest camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Balakot. In the attack, a large number of JeM terrorists, leadership and suicide bombers were eliminated.

Gokhale further said the information regarding the terror camps in Pakistan and in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) had been provided to Pakistan on multiple occasions, but they had not taken any action.