Pakistan missile misfire: Officers sacked

THE Indian air force on Tuesday (23) sacked three officers for the accidental firing of a cruise missile into nuclear-armed rival Pakistan following a months-long investigation by New Delhi.

The unarmed BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic missile was accidently launched from a secret military base in northern India in early March before the projectile landed roughly 125 kilometers inside Pakistani territory without causing any damage to life or property.

A statement by the air force said that a probe into the incident had found three of its officers guilty of violating standard operating procedures that led to the mishap.

‘These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the Central Govt with immediate effect,’ the statement said.

Islamabad had said that a ‘super-sonic flying object’ cruising at 40,000 feet from India had violated its airspace and hit an uninhabited civilian area on March 9.