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Pakistani Military Plane Downed;
16 Dead
By Zahid Hussain
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, August 10, 1999; 11:26 a.m. EDT
"KARACHI, Pakistan -- Indian fighter planes shot down
a Pakistani surveillance aircraft today. Foreign Minister
Sartaj Aziz said 16 servicemen were killed.
Both of the nuclear-armed neighbors claimed the plane was
shot down in their territory.
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The
French-built Atlantic-I aircraft was on a training mission
when it was shot down near a small coastal town, Aziz
said. ``Pakistan reserves the right to make an appropriate
response in self-defense,'' he said. |
Aziz said wreckage of the aircraft was found
a mile inside Pakistani territory.
India, however, said the aircraft was shot down after intruding
into Indian airspace and failing to respond to warnings.
The crash came a few weeks after India and Pakistan came to
the brink of another war over disputed Kashmir. They have
fought three previous wars since gaining independence from
Britain in 1947, two over Kashmir.
Aziz described the attack as a violation of Pakistani airspace,
calling it a ``blatant and unprovoked act of military aggression
against an unarmed aircraft.''
Yet an Indian air force statement said its planes scrambled
to intercept the plane after it was detected by radar on the
ground. Air force officials said on condition of anonymity
that the Pakistani plane was in Indian airspace for 15 minutes.
The jet fighters signaled that the plane should land at an
Indian air base, but the Pakistani pilot ``acted in a hostile
manner'' by turning his aircraft toward the Indian jet, the
statement said.
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The
MiG-21 opened fire, hitting the Pakistani plane in the
right engine, the statement said. Indian helicopters found
the wreckage a mile south of the Pakistani border, near
Kori Creek in the Rann of Kutch, a desert in Gujarat state.
India had no immediate information on casualties. |
Also today, Pakistan ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomat
Madan Mohan Jetly because he allegedly carried out activities
incompatible with his official status. No other details were
given, but Foreign Ministry officials said his expulsion was
not related to the plane crash.
The Atlantic I is a twin-engine, propeller-driven plane used
by naval forces in Europe and Pakistan for aerial reconnaissance,
anti-submarine operations and to intercept radio signals. The
100-foot-long plane is similar in appearance to a cargo plane,
but with a long, tapering tail section that holds special antennas
and looks similar to the U.S. Navy's P-3 Orion. Its standard
crew is 12.
India said Pakistan routinely violates Indian airspace in that
area, and claimed eight intrusions from May to July.
This year, India fought an 11-week undeclared war with what
it described as Pakistani army troops in Indian-held territory.
Pakistan denied its soldiers were involved and said all the
fighters were Kashmiri militants."
(source: Washington Post 08-10-99, photos: Atlantic by Michael
Petrykowski; MiG-21bis by Indian Air Force)
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