IAF jets criss-cross the sky over J&K's Mendhar, Rajouri as forces remain on high alert

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@sidhant

A high level of aerial activity was witnessed at Mendhar in Poonch along the Line of Control and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses reported seeing several IAF jets flying over the area.

This comes a day after news agency ANI reported that the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Army will be destroying three to four unexploded bombs fired by the Pakistan Air Force in Mendhar area. These bombs were fired by Pakistan on February 27 in retaliation following the IAF airstrikes a day before. However, the bombs did not explode after being released from their Mirage-III combat planes.

The development comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. The IAF scrambled Sukhoi-30 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets to chase away four Pakistani F-16s flying close to Punjab border on late Sunday night. The Pakistani warplanes were accompanied with a surveillance drone, possibly trying to detect the deployment of Indian troops in border areas.

Defence Spokesperson, Jammu later confirmed that there "was no air space violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch."

Tensions between India and Pakistan had flared after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) killed over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a preemptive nonmilitary operation, carried out by IAF's Mirage 2000 jets, in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 to decimate the biggest terror camp of JeM. Pakistan Air Force, retaliatory strikes downed IAF's MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.