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Unarmed Pak naval aircraft shot down by Indian jets; 16 feared dead
10 August 1999
KARACHI: An Indian fighter jet on Tuesday shot down a Pakistan naval aircraft with 16 people on board, said a senior naval official. The aircraft was shot down in the Sindh province of Pakistan south of Badin and 30-40 miles north of the Pakistan coastline in the Rann of Kutch area.
According to the official, the Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft was shot down while it was on a training mission, and the ten navy personnel and six under-training officers on board have been presumed dead.
The plane went missing at around 11.30 a.m (0630 GMT) and helicopters were immediately sent out for its search. The debris of the plane was found floating two miles inside the international border on the Pakistan side, near Badin, about 300 kms northeast of Karachi.
PAF air defence radar in Karachi picked up Indian fighter jets near the border in the Rann of Kutch area seconds prior to the downing of the Pakistan Navy aircraft. PAF believes that the unarmed Atlantique naval aircraft was brought down using at least two air-to-air missiles.
The aircraft was shot down without warning and in violation of the 1991 India-Pakistan Prevention of Violation of Airspace Agreement.

16 killed as Pak Navy plane shot down by India

Wreckage found within Pakistan border; plane was on routine training mission, says ISPR; Pakistan forces placed on alert 10 August 1999 By Zarar Khan

KARACHI: An unarmed Pakistan Navy Atlantique aircraft was shot down while on a routine training mission within Pakistan airspace, by two Indian fighters on Tuesday, killing all 16 officers and sailors on board, the Pakistan Navy announced on Tuesday evening.

A statement from the Pakistan Navy said the Indian action was "unprovoked and without warning." The statement further pointed out that the Indian naval leadership had shown hostility in its statements and was seeking to "expand the conflict to the maritime sphere.

A Pakistan Navy official said the downed aircraft was on a routine mission and had had departed from PNS Mehran at 9:15 a.m. for a four-hour flight. Its last communication was with the control tower at Karachi Airport at 10:55 a.m. after which it went missing.

A reconnaissance flight sent to investigate found the wreckage of the downed aircraft 120 miles southeast of Karachi at Sir Creek. The site is being guarded by SSG commandos. A Pakistani cameraman at the scene described the area as desolate and mostly marsh and desert. He said the wreckage was scattered over a large area and he saw traces of blood in pools of water.

The Pakistan Navy said it was certain two Indian fighters had been involved in the incident since Pakistani radars detected the takeoff of two Indian jets. Brigadier Rashid Qureshi, Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), told journalists that Pakistani forces were on alert and appropriate measure had been taken and they would not let India succeed in their designs.

To a question, he said that the movement of two Indian fighter planes was noticed on the radar. "But we were not expecting such a hostile and unwarranted act from India as the unarmed aircraft was on a routine training flight in a designated training area," he said.

He said that all routine training missions were on and there was no warlike situation on the borders, thus no question arises that an aircraft flying in the border area should be armed. He said that the Atlantique was not a fighter jet.

Brigadier Rashid said that if the Indian forces planned any further acts, Pakistani forces were alert and would take them to task. He said the Indian action was definitely a very hostile one for which Indians would be held responsible, whatever repercussions may arise. "We are taking appropriate measures and some of them have already been taken," the DG ISPR said while briefing the journalists at PNS Mehran - the base camp of the naval fleet's air arm.

He said that the Indian fighter aircraft fired a missile or rocket on the unarmed Pakistan aircraft, without crossing into the Pakistani airspace. The plane was flying from north east to south west at an altitude of 7,000 feet which, he added, was a designated area for
training flights.

He said that the aircraft was in communication with the control tower of Karachi Air Traffic Control and visible on all radars. Brigadier Rashid Qureshi said that Indian fighters, without any warning, shot down the plane, which was instrument flying in Pakistani airspace. He said that the wreckage of the aircraft was located two miles inside the Pakistani border.

He said that local and international media people were taken to the site where the wreckage of the aircraft was located and the area was accurately identified as Pakistani territory. The DG ISPR said that Indian forces generated a lot of activity in the area. "We also monitored activity of the Border Security Force of India. While our rescue mission was going on and the wreckage was being located, Indian choppers were seen near the area," he said, adding that the Indians must have planned to pick some of the pieces of the wreckage to take into their territory so that they could confuse the international media and influence opinion.
He said that after the incident, the Directors General of Military Operations of Pakistan and India talked on a hot line and that the Indian DGMO was claiming that the Atlantique aircraft had intruded into Indian airspace. He said that the Indian claim was baseless and incorrect, as the wreckage was scattered over two kilometers and was found two miles inside Pakistan's border.

A Pakistan Navy statement issued to journalists said: "Today at noon, India sent up two fighters and shot down a Pakistan Navy Atlantique aircraft that was unarmed and carrying out routine training for junior officers inside Pakistan airspace and under Karachi Airport's Air Traffic Control.

"This unprovoked action without any warning is the most cowardly and hostile act that belies the Indian government's statements that it is seeking to build an atmosphere of trust. The 16 brave officers and sailors on board have given their lives for the nation. These Shaheeds will live on with the complete love, affection and respect of the Pakistan navy, the Armed Forces of Pakistan and the nation.

"The wreckage has been located inside Pakistan territory. The enemy has repeatedly, through its statements of Indian naval leadership, shown hostility, attempting to enlarge the conflict to the maritime sphere. "The Pakistan government's restraint has been reiterated by our political government and defence planners. However, the responsibility of this action lies squarely on the Indians who have yet again shown themselves to be the enemy."

The Breguet Atlantique is a bi-turbo-prop maritime patrol plane built by France's Dassault Aviation. Pakistan had four Atlantiques serving in its navy.

India downs Pakistan Navy plane: 16 killed

10 August 1999
By Sarfaraz Ahmed

KARACHI: All the 16 officers and sailors on board were killed on Tuesday when a Pakistan Navy training aircraft was shot down by two Indian fighter planes. The wreckage of the plane has been located 2km inside Pakistan territory in marshy areas, Badin district, around 100 nautical miles off Karachi.

Those who were killed during their instrument flying training flight were identified as Lt Comdr Mehboob Alam, Comdr Farasat, Lt Rizwan Masood, Lt Azhar, Lt Zarrar, Sailor Mohammad Tariq, Sailor Nawazish, Sailor Mohammad Husain, Sailor Mohammad Sarwar, Sailor Aftab Ahmed, Sailor Mohammad Riaz, Sailor Wahid Iqbal, Sailor Mohammad Yasin, Sailor Mohammad Hafeez, Sailor S. Mehmood and Sailor M.N. Masood.

The plane - a French-made Breguet Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft - had left PNS Mehran airbase in the city at 9.15am for a routine training flight to the coastal areas of southern Sindh. It was scheduled to return to its base after four hours.

The plane went missing at 11am after it made its last contact with the Karachi Airport Air Traffic Control at 10.50am. The helicopters sent out to search for the plane sighted its wreckage on the ground near Badin.
Pakistan authorities had in the day noticed the take-off of two Indian fighter planes over the marshy areas, but since it was a normal routine flight during peacetime none of those monitoring the ground radar had any inkling that the training plane would be intercepted, attacked or shot down.

The rescue teams that went to the area following the disappearance of the plane found the Atlantic debris strewn in an area of around one kilometre. The plane wreckage had created at least three big craters in the marshy area, and the helicopter that took the photographers of world media, including BBC and Reuters, found a sizable part full of red water, believed to be the blood of those killed in the plane.

According to one of the Naval officials who was first to reach the spot in the afternoon, the debris at some places was still burning.

He said blood had turned the colour of water into red. His account was later corroborated by a photographer who reached the spot with five other cameramen.

The naval officials, however, said they had been able to retrieve some highly mutilated pieces of flesh from the site of the wreckage.

One of the photographers who had visited the spot told Dawn that they had been able to land at a relatively soft patch of land in the otherwise waterlogged area. "The wreckage reminded me of the 1988 crash in which Gen Ziaul Haq was killed," he said.

Earlier, Rear Admiral Gul Zaman Malik quoting a fisherman told newsmen that the fishermen who were near that area had seen a big ball of fire coming from the sky.

Downed plane crashed in Pakistan - witnesses

10 August 1999

KARACHI (Reuters): A Pakistani naval plane shot down by Indian fighter jets on Tuesday crashed inside Pakistani territory, witnesses who travelled to the scene said.

The witnesses, who included Reuters photographer Zahid Hussain, said the broken fuselage of the reconnaissance and anti-submarine Berguet Atlantique plane was partly buried in marshland just inside the Pakistani border with India.

Hussain, who with the other witnesses was taken to the site by helicopter, said: "The pilot told us the border was another two minutes flying time away."

He added that the downed plane's fuselage appeared to have broken up, with parts buried up to slightly more than one metre (four feet) deep in the muddy Indus delta.

Earlier, Indian defence officials said the plane was shot down after it intruded into Indian airspace off the coast of the western state of Gujarat at 11:15 a.m. (0545 GMT). But Pakistan said the unarmed plane was shot down within its territory, and accused India of "cold-blooded murder" in the deaths of all 16 people aboard.

Wreckage of unarmed Pakistan Navy plane shot down by India well inside Pakistan territory

10 August 1999

BADIN, Pakistan: The wreckage of the Atlantique patrol aircraft shot down by an Indian MiG fighter has been located 3 miles inside Pakistan territory south of Badin in the Sindh province of Pakistan proving that the aircraft was shot down while inside Pakistan airspace and that Indian MiGs had violated Pakistan's airspace.

Pakistan Televesion showed footage of the wreckage site in its nightly 9:00 o'clock news bulletin. The footage was shot both from the ground and from the air.

Pakistan Navy Sea King helicopters were present at the site and Pakistan Navy personnel and Pakistan Television cameramen and journaliststs were salvaging through the wreckage of the unarmed aircraft downed by India. Pakistan Navy patrol aircraft circled the wreckage site while Pakistan Naval Aviation Mirage IIIs patrolled the skies overhead.

The wreckage proves that the aircraft was within Pakistan airspace when it was shot down by Indian Air Force MiG fighters. Pakistan Navy personnel showed GPS indicators and compasses putting the wreckage site well within Pakistan territory.

Indian claims that the wreckage was inside Indian territory and that India had seized the wreckage have been falsified as the wreckage was well is inside Pakistan territory and in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

Pakistan has termed the shooting down of its unarmed naval surveillence plane as cowardly aggression and has said that it reserves the right to retaliate against India at a time and place of its own choosing. Pakistan has termed the killing of 16 of its naval personnel, including 5 officers and 11 sailors as "cold-blooded murder".

Pakistan has decided to raise this issue in the Security Council and the Ambassadors of the P5 were earlier briefed on this incident in the Foreign Ministry in Islamambad by the Foreign Minister Mr. Sartaj Aziz.

A Pakistan Navy officer who did not wish to be named told PIADS that this act of aggression by India will not go unanswered by the Pakistan armed forces. "We will retaliate in kind, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an aircraft for an aircraft and a life for a life", he said.

The Pakistan Air Force has also been put on full alert in the area. "They got away this time because of the close proximity of the border, but, insha'Allah, next time we will get them", said a PAF officer. He also stated that the air-to-air missile may have been fired whilst the Indian MiG was still inside Indian airspace. "But the violation is still there, by the missile and by the act of aggression", he stated.

Pakistan Navy Atlantique Pilot was third shaheed of family

10 August 1999
By Sarmad Sufian

LAHORE: The young Lt Zarar Mansoor, 25, who was martyred along with 15 other personnels of Pakistan Navy on Tuesday morning when his plane was hit by an Indian missile near Sir Creek, Badin, was the third shaheed of a Lahore family. The wreckage of the plane was later found lying two kilometres inside the Pakistan territory.

His family did not expect the early arrival of his body as, they said, there was no further news about the incident. The search for the bodies was still on, they added. Zarar's elderly father, Mansoor termed his death as the third addition to the 'Family of Shaheeds.' His grandfather and uncle died defending the country while a number of his cousins were also attached with the armed forces.

Mansoor gave the details of his father's life and answered queries. Talking to the The News on Tuesday night at his house Mansoor said, "I am extremely proud of my son and this was expected as we decided to send him to Navy."

Zarar, a 6-foot tall and smart young man of 25, had joined the Navy in 1993, informed a relative, who further added that they were planning his marriage. He celebrated his birthday on July 15, he said. He wanted to join the air force, but he went to the Navy as a naval pilot in 1993.

Zarar has left one sister and a brother. Atif, an air force officer, is attending a course in Germany while the sister is a doctor at Mayo Hospital. The family said that they were proud of their son and added that Zarar died as a soldier following the family tradition.

Courtesy: The News

Lt. Zarar (Shaheed) laid to rest in Lahore

12 August 1999

LAHORE: Moving scenes were witnessed when bodies of two of the 16 martyrs of Badin Lt. Zarrar Ahmad and sailor Muhammad Hussain were flown here Thursday afternoon in a C130 plane. They died when Pakistan Navy's reconnaissance plane Atlantic was shot down by Indian fighter while it was on a routine flight near Badin on Tuesday morning.

As Lt. Zarrar was laid to rest with full Naval honours at Ghazi Road graveyard here Thursday, the body of sailor Muhammad Hussain was later taken to his native town in Zafarwal. The body of Lt. Zarrar was received by his family at 45-C, Officers Colony, Ghazi Road amid moving scenes in the presence of hundreds of relatives, friends and neighbours.

A senior officer of Pakistan Navy Captain Khalid Rehman and Acting Corps Commander, Lahore Maj-Gen Javaid Ahmad, GOC, along with thousands of senior officers and jawans of Navy and Army, attended the funeral. Punjab Governor Shahid Hamid represented the government in the funeral. The body was then laid in the grave, the Naval and Army contingents presented a guard of honour to the departed officer.

Tippu: the fighter's last wish fulfilled

12 August 1999

LAHORE: Lt. Zarrar Ahmed, one of the 16 martyrs of the Atlantique plane, had a desire that his body be laid to rest wrapped in the green flag, according to his own notes in a diary, his aggrieved family said.

Lt. Zarrar hailed from a small family. His father, Mansoor, had retired from the telecommunications department as supervisor and his mother, Kalsoom Mansoor, had recently retired as director-general, Nursing, from the Health Department.

His only brother, Atif Mansoor, a Flight Lieutenant with the PAF, who was in Germany on training, reached home on Wednesday night. His only sister has recently done her MBBS. Lt Zarrar had joined Navy after matriculation in 1988 and only a year ago he had switched over to aviation. He died only five days before his 26th birthday.

Zarrar was to be married after a year as he wanted his sister to be married first. His family members said he was full of humour and life. Possessing an athletic body, he was so brave that the family lovingly called him Tipu, the fighter.

Lt. Zarrar's body was so mutilated that the coffin could not be opened. The body of Lt. Zarrar was flown into Lahore in a C-130 plane. Lt. Zarrar was laid to rest with full military honours at Ghazi Road graveyard in Lahore. The body was received by his family at 45-C, Officers Colony, Ghazi Road amid moving scenes in the presence of hundreds of relatives, friends and neighbours.

A senior officer of Pakistan Navy Captain Khalid Rehman and Acting Corps Commander, Lahore Maj-Gen Javaid Ahmad, GOC, alongwith thousands of senior officers and Jawans of the Navy and Army, attended the funeral. Punjab Governor Shahid Hamid represented the government of Pakistan at the funeral.

Two laid to rest in Burewala

APP adds: The bodies of two sailors out of 16 martyrs of Badin plane incident reached by a special plane (at Theingi Air Base Vehari) Thursday.

The bodies were taken to their native villages under the supervision of senior Naval officers where they laid to rest with full naval honours. Nawazish Ali 'Shaheed' was laid to rest at his native Chak No.13/WB, while Aftab Ahmad 'Shaheed' was laid to rest at his native Chak No.375/EB. Senior officers of three forces and civil officers and large number of people belonging to different walks of life attended their!funeral rites.

Later a smart contingent of the navy saluted the graves of the 'Shaheeds' and laid floral wreath on their graves on behalf of Naval Chief.

Ahmedpur East: Radar Technician Muhammad Nasir who embraced martyrdom in the shooting down incident of an unarmed Pakistan Navy transport carrier, Atlantic by Indian fighters, was laid to rest with full military honours. His body reached here Thursday morning followed by the funeral prayer at Eidgah Mehmood Park. The funeral was attended by Station commander Dera Nawab Cantt., Deputy Commissioner, SSP Bahawalpur, jawans and officers of Pakistan Army and thousands of citizens. Army troops paid salute to the body of the Shaheed. His father who is a retired school teacher, said that it was a great honour for him and his family that his son has sacrificed his life for the Pak homeland.

He revealed that Nasir was scheduled to arrive here on Friday, August 13 by Karachi Express as his parents had called him home to finalise his wedding ceremony scheduled for April 2000. Allah Yar added that his 20-year-old son had been serving in Pak-Navy for the past five years.

Islamabad: The bodies of three officers and two sailors, who embraced martyrdom Tuesday when a Pakistani Naval plane was shot down by India, arrived here on Thursday. Vice Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza, Secretary Defence Ch. Iftikhar Ali, Vice Chief of Army Staff, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Officers of the three Armed Forces, Jawans, relatives of martyrs besides a large of people attended the prayers offered for the martyrs. Maulvi Sultan Mehmood who led the prayers, prayed for Allah's blessings and grant of eternal peace for the Shuhadas.

The martyrs for whom prayers were offered included Atlantic plane's Pilot Lieutenant Commander Mehboob Alam (Khushab), Lieutenant Farasat Ali (Islamabad), Lieutenant Azhar Hussain (Bhimbar, AJK), Sailor Muhammad Tariq (Attock) and Sailor Wahid Iqbal (Malakand). After the prayers, the bodies of martyrs have been sent to their native areas where they will be buried with full military honours.

Lieutenant Frasat Ali (Shaheed) laid to rest

12 August 1999

ISLAMABAD: Lt. Frasat Ali, one of the martyrs of the Pakistan Navy, was buried at the Islamabad graveyard with full military honour on Thursday afternoon.

The officer embraced martyrdom alongwith his other companions when an aircraft of the Pakistan Navy was shot down by Indian fighter jets on Tuesday.

The bodies of the five martyrs were flown from Karachi in a service aircraft earlier in the day and their Namaz-e-Janaza was held at the PNS Zafar, naval headquarters.

The Namaz-e-Janaza was attended by Secretary Defence Lt-Gen (Retd) Iftikhar Ali Khan, Vice Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Lt-Gen M. Aziz, Chief of the General Staff Air Marshal Aliuddin, Vice Chief of the Air Staff Vice Admiral M. M. Biabani, Admiral (Retd) T. K. Khan, Admiral (Retd) K. R. Niazi, Admiral (Retd) Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey, former Secretary Defence Mr Salim Abbas Jillani, and others.

The bodies of Lt-Cdr Mehbood Alam, AEA-1, M. Tariq, AEA-1, Wahid Iqbal, SNT-1 and M. Hafeez, LRT were dispatched to there native towns for service burial.

India hit plane in Pakistani territory, confirms NSA Satellite

12 August 1999

WASHINGTON (PPA): America's most secretive National Security Agency (NSA) satellite data have confirmed that Indian fighter planes shot down a Pakistani unarmed aircraft on Tuesday within Pakistani territory resulting in the death of 16 people. A secret National Security Agency spy satellite transcript leaked to selected American and Canadian journalists confirmed earlier reports that Indian control tower ordered its fighters to shoot down the Pakistan plane and return to base quickly.

Transcript recorded from the scene also indicates that Indian fighters also violated Pakistani airspace during their operation. PPA Special Correspondent has learnt from Washington sources that NSA officials have in their possession pictures as well as tapes of conversation between Indian MIG 21 pilots and ground control station officials. Observers believe that if the U.S. officials agree to release the transcript and satellite images, a lot of trouble could be created for the Indians. However U.S. State Department officials appear reluctant to do so officially for obvious reasons.

Meanwhile several radio operators in Washington State, USA and British Columbia, Canada reported to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, (CBC) and CBS News that they overheard radio traffic between ground controllers and Indian fighter aircraft during this week's attack on a Pak aircraft. They reported that the order was given to destroy the aircraft, but as it was out of weapons' range when the pursuit began, the next order was to chase the aircraft, which was reported as being "several miles" into Pakistani Territory and shoot it down once in range. The Indian aircraft reported firing and then reported "turning back to Indian Airspace" once weapons were released. This is further evidence that Indian forces violated Pak airspace in order to attack the aircraft. The pilots are reported to have been told over the air that "you never left our airspace...do you understand?" to which the pilots both replied their agreement.

Indians also tried to get hold of the bodies. An Indian publication confirmed that Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel met with stiff resistance from the Pakistani Rangers on Tuesday evening and Wednesday when they tried to retrieve the bodies of Pakistani personnel whose plane was shot down by the Indian Air Forces on Tuesday. A senior Indian defense officer was quoted by India today as saying that Pakistanis fired at the BSF twice late on Tuesday and Wednesday. The BSF returned the fire. It appears after taking back some of the broken parts of the downed aircraft Indian forces also tried to get hold of some of the mutilated bodies of Pakistanis to justify their claim that the plane was shot down in the Indian area but they failed.

Diplomats in Pakistan visit wreckage site of downed unarmed Pakistan Navy plane

12 August 1999

MUSAFIRKHANA, Pakistan (AFP): Pakistan on Thursday took a team of foreign diplomats on a tour of the site where a Pakistan navy patrol aircraft crashed after it was shot down by Indian jets. Military attaches from the embassies of 28 countries including the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany and France, flew to the site in five helicopters, officials and witnesses said.

With the help of the Global Positioning System, instruments, charts and maps, the attaches were briefed about the location of the site to show that it was within the Pakistani territories.

According to the ISPR, they were told about the downing of the plane by Indian MiGs without any warning to the aircraft flying well within the territorial limits of Pakistan.

Then in the afternoon, helicopters took the military attaches to the site, about 100 miles southeast of Karachi. They were shown the debris of the plane scattered over about one kilometre.

According to an ISPR spokesman, the Indian fighter planes and helicopters made two attempts to reach the wreckage site after having removed some pieces of the plane late on Tuesday.

He said it had been learnt through the talks between the directors general of military operations of the two countries that the Indian warplanes had shot down PN's Atlantic at 11.17am.

He said the film footage of a foreign news service showed that some of the wreckage was still aflame when the Indians were removing the debris to take it to New Delhi. India had conducted that sortie at 12.30pm, he added.

The second sortie, he said, was made around 2.15pm when the Pakistan planes, taking rescue teams, were searching for the wreckage. Although, he pointed out, the rescue teams had noted the presence of the Indian planes, they did not have any inkling that Atlantic had been downed by Indian planes or some of the wreckage had already been removed by them.

Second attempt was made on Wednesday morning when two Indian jets, providing cover to as many helicopters, attempted to approach the site, said the spokesman, adding that it was at that time that Pakistan troops, who had taken position by then, fired missiles at the intruding aircraft.

The marshland, strewn with the debris of the Atlantic patrol aircraft which Pakistan said was shot down by Indian jets on Tuesday inside Pakistan territory, is located 30 kilometers (20 miles) from this southern coastal village.

India has said the plane was knocked down when it intruded into Indian airspace.

The military attaches took photographs and gathered technical data with Global Positioning System instruments at the site which is being guarded by army and naval troops.

Battle-ready troops equipped with anti aircraft guns and missiles stood alert and many were positioned in trenches and newly built bunkers, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

Pakistani army and naval officials briefed the military attaches with the help of maps telling them the aircraft was flying within its territory when it was attacked.

"These are the pieces of wreckage lying and the aircraft was well within our territory. Here we are around three kilometers inside the Pakistan territory," Brigadier Rashid Qureshi told the diplomats.

Foreign Military attaches visit wreckage site in Pakistan

12 August 1999

KARACHI: Military attaches of various countries on Thursday visited the wreckage site of Naval aircraft which was shot down by Indian fighters on Tuesday.

Military attaches from Bangladesh, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Myanmar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the United States, Philippines and Palestine visited the wreckage site in Badin, an ISPR press release said.

The attaches were briefed about the barbaric act committed by the Indian Air Force fighters without giving any warning to the aircraft flying in Pakistan's air space in which 16 innocent Naval personnel lost their lives.
Prior to visit, they were briefed with the help of maps and charts at PNS Mehran about the flying route of the aircraft, which was well inside the territory of Pakistan when it was attacked by Indian fighters.

AFP adds: Military attaches from the embassies of 28 countries flew to the site in five helicopters. The military attaches took photographs and gathered technical data with Global Positioning System instruments at the site which is guarded by army and naval troops.

Troops were armed with anti-aircraft guns and missiles and many were in trenches and newly built bunkers, an AFP correspondent saw. "These are the pieces of wreckage and the aircraft was well within our territory. Here we are around three kilometers inside Pakistan territory," Brigadier Rashid Qureshi told the attaches.

Fragments of the plane were spread over a 1.6 kilometer area, with charred parts of the fuselage, cockpit and tail lying in a crater. The area buzzed with military activity with troops taking up positions on radar systems and in the bunkers behind anti-aircraft guns. "We have deployed more troops as Indians might try to intrude again," Qureshi said. He said soon after the downing Indian forces had violated Pakistani territory and retrieved pieces of the wreckage from the site for use in their "false propaganda."

Six shaheed Pak Navy sailors laid to rest

12 August 1999

LAHORE: Six sailors of the Pakistan Navy martyred in the shooting down of an unarmed aircraft by India were laid to rest on Thursday in their respective towns of Bahawalpur and Multan divisions with full military honours.

According to an ISPR press release, Namaze-Janaza of the martyred sailors were attended by senior officers of the forces, Jawans and respectable people of the area. Floral wreaths were put on their graves on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff and Corps Commander Multan and Shuhada Squadron.

Body of martyred sailor, M N Masood (RT-I), arrived at Bahawalpur in a special Navy plane from where it was taken to his native village, Noor Shah Bukhari, Tehsil Ahmadpur East, (Bahawalpur) for burial.

Bodies of sailors Nawazish Ali (LSNT) and sailor Aftab Ahmad (LAFT) arrived at Vehari in a special plane. Nawazish Ali was buried at Chak No 13/WB near Vehari and Aftab Ahmad was laid to rest at Chak No 375/EB (Shaikh Fazil), Burewala with full military honour.

The bodies of sailor Muhammad Riaz (SNT-I) and M Yasin (CT-I) arrived at the Multan airport in a special Navy plane. Senior officers of Multan Garrison received their bodies. Muhammad Riaz was buried at Chak No 108/12-L near Chichawatni, district Sahiwal and Muhammad Yasin at Chak No 3/8- AR near Tehsil Mian Channu, district Khanewal. The body of sailor Ahmad Hussain was taken to Zafarwal and buried with full military honours.

Naval Chief slams India for shooting down unarmed Navy plane in Pakistan territory

12 August 1999

KARACHI: Terming the shooting down of Pakistani Atlantique aircraft as barbaric and unwarranted act, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Fasih Bukhari on Thursday warned India that Pakistan Navy was fully prepared to safeguard its maritime territory.

Talking to journalists after the Namaz-e-Janaza of the martyrs of the downed Atlantique aircraft at PNS Mehran, the Admiral said by shooting down the Naval plane India had dragged the Pakistan Navy into the conflict but they must realise that the Pakistan Navy was fully prepared to safeguard its maritime territory.

"We will not allow them to come and violate our territory any more ... we have to defend our territory so our marines and Naval special group have been posted at the site of wreckage .. we are supported by the Pakistan Army as well," Admiral Bukhari added. The Indian act was a setback to the Lahore peace process, he said.

"Our government started the process in post-Kargil period for the continuation of Lahore Declaration but I am afraid this totally unwarranted act has put dent in this process," the Naval Chief said.

Admiral Fasih Bukhari said although the Kargil issue was settled, India continued to increase tension and made deliberate attempts to take the conflict in maritime sphere by making unnecessary statements that it could have blockaded Pakistan's sea. "These statements were not merely unnecessary but devoid of truth," he added.

Referring to India's air space violations, he said: "India once again violated our territory yesterday (Wednesday) when Pakistani helicopters were busy in collecting debris and bodies of martyrs of the surveillance aircraft from the spot," he added.

Most probably, he added, the Indian helicopters wanted to collect more debris of the Pakistani aircraft so that they could produce it before the international media, showing that it was shot down inside Indian territory.

He said the Indian helicopters had collected some parts of Pakistani aircraft on Tuesday soon after the incident as they had enough time to do so. The Naval chief said: "We go for the search once the aircraft is downed ... That aircraft was supposed to come back at 1:15 pm so you have to give a margin before you decide to go for a search."

He said the search takes time as a large area has to be searched but if someone knows where the plane was shot down he may go straight to the place. He said it took us time to locate the wreckage and during this period Indian helicopters, violating the territorial limits, landed in Pakistani territory and took away some pieces of wreckage as they had enough time.

This, he said, was a blatant violation of the 1991 Prevention of Air Space Violation Agreement, as the aircraft was close to the Indian border but within Pakistan's territory. The route of the aircraft was from northeast to southwest and there was no question of the violation of Indian air space, he added.

There was no covert mission as the aircraft was flying at the altitude of 7,000 feet and could easily be watched by a simple radar, he added. Admiral Bukhari said the aircraft was in a designated training area which happens to be the only available training area as the training area has to be within the range of a civil radar.

"You cannot operate at the altitude of 7,000 to 9,000 feet where there is civil traffic." He said the aircraft had been within that area for well over 90 minutes and was being tracked by Indians. He said that the Atlantique was flying high and there was no reconnaissance. "If it was doing any reconnaissance it would have been flying very low and most possibly into Indian territory, but it was flying high and within Pakistan air space," the Admiral explained.

Shaheed PN sailor laid to rest with full honours

14 August 1999

MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Navy sailor Muhammad Hafeez, who embraced martyrdom following the downing of Pakistan Navy plane in Badin, was laid to rest here on Saturday with full military honour.

The AJK Prime Minister Barrister Sultan Mehmood Choudhry, Ministers Ch Latif Akbar and Kh Farooq Ahmad, Members Legislative Assembly, high military and civil officials, representatives of various political parties, religious and organizations attended the Namaz-e-Janaza along with citizens at the AJK University Stadium.

Shaheed Sailor Muhammad Hafeez son of Muhibbullah Qureshi was resident of Bela Noor Shah, near Muzaffarabad. Muhibbullah Qureshi said he was proud to be the father of a Shaheed who sacrificed his life for the country. He said the sacrifices of Shuhada would not go waste and India would have to pay heavy price.

15 August 1999

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that Indian aircraft violated its airspace on 94 occasions and 227 times in violation of a bilateral agreement since January 1999.

In June-July 1999, Indian aircraft violated Pakistani airspace on 89 occasions. In the previous 5 months, there were 5 instances of violations.

Out of the 227 incidents of the violation of the agreement, 108 were in June 1999 alone, primarily due to Indian air operations against Kashmiri Mujahideen positions in the Drass-Kargil-Batalik sectors of Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir.

This information has been released in response to the Indian downing of an unarmed Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantique ASW aircraft 3 kilometres inside Pakistan territory on 10 August in the south-eastern Rann of Kutch region of Sindh province. Two Indian MiG-21 fighters violated Pakistan's airspace to shoot down the aircraft in order to avenge the humiliating losses which the Indian armed forces received in the Kargil conflict in May-July this year at the hands of the Mujahideen and at the hands of the Pakistan Army on the LoC.

The Pakistan military has categorically warned the Indian Air Force that any future violation of Pakistan's airspace will not go unanswered and that it should not expect Pakistan to exercise any form of restraint if an Indian Air Force plane violates its airspace.

Indian minister changes sides on Pakistan plane

11 August 1999
By CHRISTOPHER KREMMER, Herald Correspondent in New Delhi

Inconsistencies have emerged in India's version of the shooting down of a Pakistani Air Force plane and a subsequent Pakistani missile attack which India said targeted journalists.

India's National Security adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra, confirmed yesterday that the fuselage of the French-built Atlantique aircraft carrying 16 Pakistani military personnel had fallen on Pakistan's side of the border, contradicting India's earlier claims that the wreckage had been retrieved from its side.

Indian defence officials had been under pressure to produce the bodies of the Pakistanis, who it claimed had intruded 10 kilometres inside Indian airspace on a spying mission.

But Pakistan alleged the plane was on a routine training mission on its side of the border when shot down on Tuesday.

A video of the salvage operation released by New Delhi showed Indian personnel picking up pieces of wreckage and making a hasty retreat. Mr Mishra admitted all 16 bodies were on the Pakistani side.

Earlier, a spokesman for the air force said the main wreckage could be buried deep under the watery marshes in the Kori Creek area of western Gujarat state.

An apparent effort to fly media there on Wednesday was aborted after India said three helicopters carrying the journalists were targeted by a surface-to-air-missile fired from the Pakistan side. But officials later admitted two Indian fighter planes were airborne in the vicinity at the time. Pakistan said the planes had violated its airspace, and that it was firing at them, not the journalists.

Inquiry board to prepare report on Indian aggression

11 August 1999

ISLAMABAD: Rear Admiral G. Z. Malik, Commander Pakistan Fleet, has been appointed to head the broad of inquiry which will look into the incident of naked aggression by India to shoot down an unarmed Pakistan Navy's Atlantic patrol aircraft.

The terms of reference of the inquiry will be to look into the incident in a way to find facts about the Indian aggression when Indian Air Force jets shot the Atlantic down by using air-to-air missile.

This is an inquiry not against anybody, but to collect plane wreckage, and other evidence to prove hard facts about Indian aggression, including the conversation between the Indian pilots on this incident. "This a normal inquiry to prepare a comprehensive report on the aggression from across the border," said a senior official.

India responsible for escalation: Information Minister Mushahid Hussain

Downing of plane aimed at shoring sagging morale of Indian forces
11 August 1999

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that the shooting down of the Pakistan Navy unarmed plane seemed to be aimed at shoring up the sagging morale of the Indian armed forces who got a thrashing from the Kashmiri Mujahideen during the Kargil conflict.

He said this in an interview to Cable News Network (CNN) on Wednesday. Mushahid said India also committed this act to get even for the shooting of its two planes inside Pakistan's airspace during the Kargil crisis and might be because of its election campaign which was quite complicated for the Indian political scene.

The minister said that the shooting down of the Atlantic plane without warning was a flagrant violation of all norms and rules of international law and civilised behaviour. "The aircraft was well inside Pakistan's airspace and even if there was a problem, the Indians could have given the warning but there was no warning; it was shot down and all 16 people on board were killed," he added.

The minister said Pakistan had launched a major diplomatic initiative to let the international community be warned of Indian aggressive designs. "The international community should know the post-Kargil scenario. It is India which is the aggressor and is escalating the situation unnecessarily and without any provocation," he added.

To a question he said: "As for as the military response is concerned, we are watching the situation and see how the ground situation develops." He said the unarmed aircraft which was on a routine training-flight well within Pakistan airspace was shot down without provocation and without any warning by Indian planes which violated Pakistan airspace. "The plane was on a routine training mission. It was an Atlantic plane which has no weapon and it was totally unarmed," he maintained.

Responding to a question, he said: "If you have training flights within your airspace, it doesn't mean that the neighbouring country should shoot it down inside your airspace." Rejecting the Indian allegation that the plane remained for quarter of an hour in Indian airspace, he said: "Indians are not telling the truth. "
He said in any case how come the wreckage is in Pakistani territory when the plane was supposed to be in the Indian territory. "The fact is that they have shot down the Pakistan plane inside the Pakistan territory and violated airspace which is a wanton act of aggression," he concluded.

While speaking in a PTV live programme, Information Minister Mushahid Hussain referred to April 1991 agreement between Pakistan and India providing for warning to a plane of the country that may stray into the territory of other country. "Such a warning is recorded with air traffic control," he said and added, "no such warning was given to Pakistan Navy aircraft shot down by India."

The Pakistani nation and armed forces, he said were fully alert and capable of countering any aggression. "The nation and armed forces are fully alert and will give befitting response to any situation," he said. Mushahid said,"the nuclear and missile tests and Kargil have proved that national security is in safe hands." "Kashmiri Mujahideen gave a severe thrashing to Indian army inside held Kashmir while our army foiled Indian aggression at the Line of Control." The Minister said, the shooting down of the plane has again focused the attention of international community towards South Asia. "It vindicates Pakistan's position that durable peace cannot be established in this region without solution of basic problem of Kashmir", he added.

He referred to 1989 agreement of then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with Pakistan to withdraw Indian forces from Siachin. "Rajiv promised to sign the agreement about the withdrawal of forces in June but later backed out under pressure from Indian army."

Mushahid said, Rajiv admitted that Indian army was opposing withdrawal of troops from Siachin which shows the influence of Indian army on decision-making in India. The Minister termed the downing of the aircraft as a cowardly and aggressive act on the part of India.