Day after air strike, Pak jets violate Indian air space, dropping bombs; One F-16 fighter shot down

A day after Indian air strike on a terror camp in Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir saw heightened military activity on Wednesday, with Pakistani jets violating the Indian air space and dropping some bombs in Rajouri sector after which one of their fighters was shot down.

Amid fears of a military escalation between India and Pakistan, international flights that transit between the two countries have been affected, with some flights returning to the place of their origin while some others seeking alternate routes, officials said.

Pakistani fighter planes violated the Indian airspace in Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir and dropped bombs on their way out, officials said.

Craters were reportedly spotted at the places where the bombs were dropped by the Pakistani jets but there were no reports of any casualty.

Shortly thereafter, an F-16 fighter of the Pakistan Air Force was reportedly shot down and was seen falling in Lam area, about three kilometres inside Pakistan, officials said.

A parachute was also seen dropping along with the crashing fighter but the fate of its pilot was not known.

With all Indian establishments put on high alert in view of possible air space violation by Pakistan, the Indian government decided to indefinitely shut the air space for commercial and civilian flights in Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pathankot and other areas bordering Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a military transport helicopter crashed in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.

On Tuesday, India carried out air strikes on a terror camp run by Jaish-E-Mohammad in Balakot, a hill town in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Soon after that the Pakistani side resorted to ceasefire violation in 15 places including Poonch and Rajouri.