New Delhi, February 19
The Indian Army opened fire to chase away two ‘Mushaq’ planes of the Pakistan army which crossed the Line of Control (LoC) while on a reconnaissance mission in the Chamb sector today. One aircraft was believed to be damaged.

While intrusions into the Indian skies have taken place periodically, this was the first time after the Pakistani Atlantique was shot down on August 10, 1999, that planes from across have come in so deeply, defence sources said.

An Army spokesman here said the two fixed wing, turbo prop aircraft with pilots crossed the LoC at 1420 hours in Chamb sector, 68 km from Jammu. “They were engaged by ground troops and forced to return. A protest has been lodged with Pakistan,’’ he said. Army sources said one of the planes could have been damaged in the firing by the Indian Army.

Indian forces today fired on two Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft which a defence official said had violated Indian airspace in the troubled Kashmir state. The official said the incident took place at 2 p.m. at the Chhamb sector, around 65 km west of Jammu.

"We immediately engaged them from the ground with small arms and forced them to return to their territory," the official said. "We are lodging a strong protest with Pakistan for violating Indian air space," he added.

Meanwhile, at least 10 persons, including a woman, were today injured and 35 youths detained as demonstrators clashed with the police for the fourth successive day in Srinagar, where curfew was lifted from all areas barring Maisuma, official sources said.

Trouble began when about 3,000 residents of Maisuma, Kokerbazar and Amirkadal, defying curfew orders, participated in a religious ceremony for Javed Ahmad Nath, killed in police firing in Maisuma on Friday, and pelted stones on policemen and tourist reception centre while returning from the Dalgate Graveyard.

The police fired tear gas shells, used batons and arrested 35 persons to bring the situation under control, the sources said. As the news of the arrests spread, people, including women, took to the streets, defying curfew in Maisuma, Kokerbazar, Badshah Chowk, Lal Chowk and Amirkadal, demanding their release.