JF-17 used to shoot down Indian aircraft, says Pak military
Islamabad, Mar 25: Pakistan's military has said for the first time that JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft developed jointly with China were used in retaliation to India's pre-emptive strikes on a JeM terror camp in Balakot as it once again denied that US-made F-16 jets were involved in the attack.
Referring to the aerial dogfight with the Indian Air Force jets after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said the Indian jets violated the Pakistani airspace on February 26, dropping payloads without inflicting any casualties or damage to infrastructure.
The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India later.
"The aircraft which engaged those targets and fought them were JF-17. As regards to how to use F-16, in what context [they] were used or not - because at that point of time our entire Air Force was airborne - now it remains between Pakistan and the US to see how the MoUs regarding the use of F-16 have been adhered to or otherwise," Ghafoor told Russian news agency Sputnik International.
A day after Pakistan's attempt to retaliate the IAF's air strikes at the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot, the Indian armed forces displayed parts of an AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) fired by an F-16, which fell in Indian territory. New Delhi had also underlined that electronic signatures captured by Indian radars had established the use of F-16 for the offensive.
The US State Department announced that it was seeking more information from Pakistan on the potential use of American-made F-16 jets against India in violation of the end-user agreement.
The Pakistani General noted that Islamabad was discussing the use of its JF-17 with the US citing "friendly relations" with Washington, stressing, however, that the country would use whatever it deemed necessary if it came to "legitimate self-defence."
He said Pakistan only wanted to tell India that it has the capability to hit back. He said Pakistan has the footage of the operation.
At the time of the attack, the media reports said that the PAF military aircraft that shot down the Mig-21 Bison was JF-17 Thunder Block II multirole fighter jet.
"Proud to announce, I was project director for JF-17 Thunder program jointly produced by Pakistan and China during the tenure of General Pervez Musharraf," retired PAF Air Marshal Shahid Latif said at the time.
"Today, same jets targeted and shot down Indian Jets which entered Pakistani Airspace," he said soon after the attack last month.
Ghafoor said that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is a deterrence tool to prevent wars in the region.
"Pakistan holds the position that this capability eliminates the possibility of conventional war. No sane country having this capability would talk about using it," Ghafoor was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency.
He said Pakistan would take steps towards non-proliferation of nuclear arms but only if India does the same.
Ghafoor said Pakistan would welcome every effort, including that of Russia, which can bring peace in the region.
On military cooperation with Russia, Ghafoor said Pakistan is negotiating defence industry cooperation with Moscow in the areas of aviation, air defence systems and anti-tank missiles.
Pakistan's defence ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between Pakistan and the US has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
