Pakistan-India: Pakistan 'shoots down two Indian jets' over Kashmir.

Pedro_P

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▼ Pakistan says it has shot down two Indian Air Force jets in a major escalation of the Kashmir conflict.
A spokesman said one plane had fallen inside Pakistani territory and two pilots had been arrested. There is no comment from India. Pakistan has denied reports one of its jets was shot down.
Both India and Pakistan claim all of Kashmir, but control only parts of it.
The nuclear powers have fought several wars since independence from Britain in 1947. All but one were over Kashmir.
The aerial attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistani territory are the first since a war in 1971.
They follow a militant attack in Kashmir which killed 40 Indian troops - the deadliest to take place during a three-decade insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir. A Pakistan-based group said it carried out the attack.
What's the latest?
Pakistan's assertion that it had shot down two Indian aircraft came shortly after Islamabad said its warplanes had struck targets in Indian territory.
In response to PAF strikes this morning as released by MoFA, IAF crossed LOC. PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace. One of the aircraft fell inside AJ&K while other fell inside IOK. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area.— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (OfficialDGISPR) February 27, 2019
Report
Pakistan said it had "taken strikes at [a] non-military target, avoiding human loss and collateral damage".
Indian authorities said the Pakistani jets had been pushed back.
In a briefing, Maj Gen Ghafoor says that Pakistan "had no alternative to respond" to Tuesday's Indian air strikes on its territory.
However he said Pakistan had not hit Indian military targets because "we don't want to go on the path of war".
India said Tuesday's air strikes on Balakot in north-western Pakistan killed a large number of militants but Pakistan said there had been no casualties.
Are flights affected?
India has reportedly announced restrictions on its airspace. The Vistara airline said flights in the region were being suspended. Pakistan has also stopped flights from at least five airports including Islamabad and Lahore, reports say.
The flight monitoring group Flight Radar says international flights are also avoiding the area.
International flights that transit between Indian and Pakistani airspace now being affected. Some flights returning to origin, while others appear to be seeking alternate routing. https://t.co/sXbkX0qrGI pic.twitter.com/tojnJCii4w— Flightradar24 (flightradar24) February 27, 2019
Report
What else is happening?
Troops have been shelling across the LoC. Four Pakistani civilians were killed and 10 others were injured in cross-border shelling on Tuesday.
On the Indian side, five soldiers were also injured in the firing, officials told the BBC. Schools in at least two districts along the LoC - Rajouri and Poonch - have been closed.
People living along the de facto border have been asked to leave their homes.
Timeline of India-Pakistan tensions
October 1947:First war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir just two months after they become independent nations.
August 1965:The neighbours fight another brief war over Kashmir.
December 1971:India supports East Pakistan's bid to become independent. The Indian air force conducts bombing raids inside Pakistan. The war ends with the creation of Bangladesh.
May 1999: Pakistani soldiers and militants occupy Indian military posts in Kargil mountains. India launches air and ground strikes and the intruders are pushed back.
October 2001: A devastating attack on the state assembly in Indian-administered Kashmir kills 38. Two months later, an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi leaves 14 dead.
November 2008:Co-ordinated attacks on Mumbai's main railway station, luxury hotels and a Jewish cultural centre kill 166 people. India blames Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
January 2016: Four-day attack on Indian air base in Pathankot leaves seven Indian soldiers and six militants dead.
18 September 2016: Attack on army base in Uri in Indian-administered Kashmir kills 19 soldiers.
30 September 2016: India says it carried "surgical strikes" on militants in Pakistani Kashmir. Islamabad denies strikes took place.

► This news was originally published here: Source

Rhett_Bassard

For the longest time, the two sides were content to stare-down each other across a glacier.
Bravado.
What changed in this area of ice and snow? What's the common denominator in J&K?
Water… a growing antagonist and escalating State-by-State.
How long before civil war?

Pedro_P

Rhett Bassard 27-2-2019 01:54 PM
For the longest time, the two sides were content to stare-down each other across a glacier.
Bravado. ...

Religion and tribe... In that duality, it is on which almost all wars have been based... And that duality is also applied to the control of resources and the construction of nationalisms.
The Abrahamic religions, they have the ten commandments of Moses, one of those commandments says: "you shall not kill"... However, this commandment only applies among the members of the tribe, when someone is stranger to the tribe, it is seen as a threat, as a danger, then, on that person who does not belong to the tribe, death can be applied.
That same thought applies to nationalism, to nourish and strengthen it. And well, we already know the consequences of putting belief above reason.