2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes | |||||
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Part of the 2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
![]() (Chief of Air Staff) |
![]() (Chief of Air Staff) | ||||
Units involved | |||||
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Strength | |||||
2 Dassault Mirage-IIIDA |
Unknown number of MiG-21, Su-30MKI and Mirage 2000 jets[3]
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Casualties and losses | |||||
Neutral Assessment: No aircraft lost[4][5][6] Indian claim: 1 F-16 shot down Pakistani claim: No PAF aircraft shot down |
Neutral Assessment: 1 MiG-21 shot down, pilot (Abhinandan Varthaman) captured.[4][5][6] Pakistani claim: 1 MiG-21 shot down, pilot (Abhinandan Varthaman) captured and 1 Su-30MKI shot down.[1][3] Indian claim: 1 MiG-21 shot down, pilot (Abhinandan Varthaman) captured, No Su-30MKI got shot down[7] Friendly fire: 1 Mil Mi-17 shot down, 6 Indian Air Force personnel including Squadron leaders Siddharth Vashisht and Ninad Mandavgan and 1 civilian killed[8][9][10] |
On 27 February 2019, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) conducted six airstrikes at multiple locations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).[11][12] The airstrikes were part of the PAF military operation codenamed Operation Swift Retort and were conducted in retaliation to the Indian Air Force (IAF) airstrike in Balakot just a day before on 26 February.[13][14][15]
It was the first time since 1971 that both countries' airforces had conducted airstrikes on each other's territory across the Line of Control (LoC). India conducted an airstrike in Balakot on 26 February while Pakistan responded by conducting airstrikes in Indian-administered Kashmir. Following Pakistan's airstrikes, Indian Air Force (IAF) jets started pursuing Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets. In the resulting dogfight, Pakistan claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured one Indian pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman.[16] Indian officials acknowledged that one IAF jet was lost. One IAF Mil Mi-17 helicopter was also lost due to a friendly fire incident in which six IAF personnel were killed including two squadron leaders, namely, Siddarth Vashista and Ninad Mandavgane.[8][17][18][19] Indian officials also claimed to have shot down a PAF F-16 jet.[20] Pakistan rejected the Indian claim and said that the PAF did not suffer any losses in the dogfight. US count of PAF F-16 fleet found no F-16 was lost during PAF engagement with IAF.[21][22][23][24]
ff1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).telegraphIndia
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Pakistan claimed its fighters "locked on" to six Indian military targets, ranging from the brigade headquarters at Bhimber Gali to an ammunition dump at Narian, to demonstrate its "capability and resolve" but chose to drop bombs in open spaces to avoid any casualties.