Indian projectile enters Pakistani airspace: DG ISPR

RAWALPINDI: An Indian projectile on Thursday entered the Pakistani airspace and fell near Mian Channu in Khanewal district, causing some damage to the surrounding areas.

Addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, the Director-General of the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar said that Pakistan strongly condemned the incident and asked India for an explanation.

“At 6:43pm [on Thursday], a high-speed flying object was picked up inside the Indian territory by the Air Defence Operation Centre of the Pakistan Airforce,” he said.

“From its initial course, the object suddenly manoeuvred towards the Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan’s airspace [before] ultimately falling near Mian Channu at 6:50pm.”

He said that when the projectile fell, it damaged some civilian property, adding that the projectile travelled at the speed of 124kms as it entered from Pakistan from India.

“We detected the object on time and took necessary action as per the standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he said, adding that no casualties took place because of the incident.

“Some material damage was caused to a building when the object fell and a crater was formed as result,” he said.

Answering a question, the DG ISPR said: “We were absolutely monitoring the flight path of this object.”

Maj Gen Iftikhar confirmed that there was “no sensitive installation in the area where the object was shot down.”

Speaking about an uptick of terrorism incidents in the country, especially the Sibi blast a day ago in which seven security officials embraced martyrdom, the DG ISPR said that the country’s armed forces are taking
“prompt actions” to thwart the nefarious designs of the enemy.

“So far, we have killed 80 terrorists during the past few weeks,” he said.

Read more: Pakistan Navy intercepts, tracks Indian submarine: ISPR