An Indian Air Force helicopter with six personnel on board were killed after the chopper crashed on Wednesday in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. The crash took place in Garend Kalan village of Budgam at around 10.10 am.
According to a statement released by the IAF an Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the IAF, from the Srinagar Airfield, was on a routine airborne mission. "The helicopter crashed at around 10.10 am near Badgam, J&K. All six air warriors on board the helicopter suffered fatal injuries. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident," the IAF statement reads.
Visuals from the area, which were shared on social media showed a crash site in flames.
The chopper broke into two and caught fire immediately. Police say that two bodies have been recovered. However, it his not clear whether the pilots were killed or they were civilian casualties.
According to reports,the aircraft developed technical issues and crashed. Officials say that the aircraft was 50 years old. The Srinagar Airport has been temporarily shut after the crash.
Meanwhile, Pakistani jets violated the Indian airspace as it entered border areas of Nowshera sector in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Wednesday, PTI reported.
While the official did not specify the nature of the emergency due to which the airport is shut, reports suggest that the step was taken in view of the crash and Pakistan entering Indian air space on Wednesday. The flare up in the cross-LoC shelling, which was initiated by Pakistani troops in early hours of Wednesday has also resulted in security forces and other establishments being put on a heightened alert.
The Indian Air Force carried out air strikes on terrorist camps across the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday morning, several reports stated quoting IAF sources. The targets, reports state, were Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist camps in Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad. While Balakot is located in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad are located in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.“At 0330 hours on 26th February, a group of Mirage 2000 Indian Fighter jets struck a major terrorist camp across the LoC and completely destroyed it. 1000 Kg bombs were dropped on terror camps across the LoC,” IAF sources told news agency ANI.
ANI reported that the terror launch pads across the LOC were completely destroyed in IAF air strikes and that the JeM control rooms also destroyed. According to IANS, flight tracking websites spotted heightened activities along the border with an IAF early warning plane Emb 145 and mid-air refueller circling in the area early in the morning.