Pakistan says it downs two Indian warplanes

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI — Pakistan confirmed on Wednesday that it had carried out airstrikes in India-controlled Kashmir and shot down two Indian warplanes in its airspace, capturing two pilots, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. China and the United States urged the nuclear armed neighbors to show restraint.

“Today, Pakistan Air Force undertook strikes across the Line of Control from within Pakistani airspace,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The military’s spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, said one of the pilots is injured and is being treated in a military hospital. He did not elaborate on the pilot’s injuries. Ghafoor said the other pilot is in custody.

“We do not want escalation, we do not want to go toward war,” he said, calling for talks with New Delhi.

Earlier on Wednesday, senior Indian police officer Munir Ahmed Khan said an Indian Air Force plane crashed in India-controlled of Kashmir.

Tensions have surged since Feb 14 when a suicide car bombing by militants in India-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police. Pakistan has denied any role in the attack, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an airstrike on what it said was a militant training base across the border.

The Indian attack targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group, known as JeM, which claimed credit for the suicide attack. But while India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, Pakistani officials said the Indian airstrike inflicted no casualties.

On Wednesday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China is concerned over the tensions in Kashmir, hoped Pakistan and India to resolve the issue through dialogue and avoid further escalation.

He called on both sides to find out the truth, contain the tension and jointly safeguard the security and stability of South Asia.

As friends of both India and Pakistan, China is willing to play a constructive role, he added.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan, and urged them to avoid “further military activity” following Tuesday’s airstrike.

“I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. “I also encouraged both ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity,” he said.

Moeed Yusuf, an expert at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, said: “If I were Washington, I’d be in overdrive making phone calls and signaling that it wants tensions to be de-escalated now. The risks of letting this play out are too great.”

Several reporters, including an Associated Press journalist, trudged up the Kangaran Nallah hill to the site of Tuesday’s bombing near the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. They saw several large craters, a few upended trees and villagers wondering why they had been targeted.

“There are only mud-brick homes here. There is no madrassas. There isn’t even a concrete house,” said 55-year-old Noor Shah who lived about a half-kilometer from the site.

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday: “The limited objective of that pre-emptive strike was to act decisively against the terrorist infrastructure of Jaishe-Mohammed in order to pre-empt another terror attack in India.

“India does not wish to see further escalation of this situation. India will continue to act with responsibility and restraint.”

Pakistan’s parliament was scheduled to meet Wednesday for a joint session convened by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Khan dismissed India’s account of the airstrike on a terrorist training camp as “self-serving, reckless and fictitious”.

India and Pakistan also exchanged fire along the Line of Control in Kashmir on Wednesday.

Pakistani police said mortar shells fired by Indian troops from across the frontier on Wednesday struck homes, killing six civilians and wounding several others.

Indian defense forces said on Wednesday that Pakistan used heavy caliber weapons in 12 to 15 places along the Line of Control.

Five Indian soldiers suffered minor wounds in the shelling that ended on Wednesday, it said.