A fleet of fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force tried to cross the Line of Control and target the Indian military establishments, but was intercepted by Indian Air Force fighter planes, said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor.
Addressing a joint press briefing of the service chiefs in New Delhi, Kapoor said the IAF fighters were tasked to intercept the intruding Pakistani aircraft and managed to thwart them.
“Although PAF jets dropped bombs, they were not able to cause any damage,” he said.
Kapoor said one Pakistani F-16 was shot down by an IAF MiG 21 Bison aircraft in the ensuing dog-fight. He said parts of F-16 have been recovered east of Rajouri inside Indian territory.
Kapoor said, the IAF is happy that Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was arrested by Pakistan Army after he safely ejected from the crashing jet, is returning on Friday.
The service chiefs' pre-scheduled press briefing came hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan made an announcement that his country would release Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday as a “gesture of peace”.
The tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalated a day after a fleet of IAF Mirage 2000 fighter jets crossed the Pakistan border and demolished a major terror training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad at Balakot, killing over 300 militants.
India's unprecedented counter-terror operation was in response to the suicide attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, in which at least 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives. The JeM had claimed responsibility of the attack.
