ISLAMABAD – Fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) carried out off-runway operations by operating from multiple locations along different Motorways and Highways on Monday.
Minister for Communications Murad Saeed and senior civil and military officers witnessed the demonstration.
The exercise was conducted to demonstrate the capability of Pakistan Air Force to sustain high tempo air operations.
https://twitter.com/PTVNewsOfficial/status/1107588392592818176
After landing, the aircraft were refueled and rearmed.
The demonstrations come amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, who came to the brink of war last week following the Feb 14 suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-occupied Kashmir. New Delhi accused Pakistan of harbouring the Jaish-e Mohammad group behind the attack, which Islamabad denied.
Situation on the Line of Control, which divides the vast Himalayan region of Kashmir region between two nuclear-armed rivals remains tense since Feb 26 Indian jets intruded into the Pakistani airspace and dropped their payload in a so-called “surgical strike” in Balakot area of northern Pakistan.
The next day, Pakistan responded and its Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian jets in Bhimber district.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/indian-fighter-jet-crashes-in-badgam/
Pakistan also captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman after his MiG-21 fighter jet was shot down during a dogfight near the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27. He was released by Islamabad the same week as a “peace gesture”.
Since then, over half of dozen civilians have been killed and around 40 others wounded in Indian shelling in different areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
While India has accused Pakistan of supporting the militants and having a “direct hand” in the incident, Pakistan, in turn, has rejected the allegations, accusing India of being responsible for human rights violations taking place in Kashmir.
