The government on Wednesday confirmed it lost one MiG-21 and the pilot is missing in action.

"Pakistan claimed that the pilot is in their custody and we are ascertaining the facts," ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters.

The MEA said Indian Air Force's (IAF) MiG 21 Bison shot down one Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft and it was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side.

According to MEA, Pakistan has used its Air Force to target military installations in India in response to Indian counter-terrorism operations but their attempts were foiled successfully.

"India had informed about Counter-Terrorism (CT) action it took yesterday against a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pakistan based on credible evidence that JeM intended to launch more attacks. Against this Counter Terrorism Action, Pakistan has responded this morning by using its Air Force to target military installations on the Indian side. Due to our high state of readiness and alertness, Pakistan’s attempts were foiled successfully," the statement said.

The statement follows fresh confrontation a day after IAF launched a counter-terrorism action against a training camp of JeM in Pakistan based on credible evidence that JeM intended to launch more attacks.

The pre-dawn operation, described as "non-military" and "preemptive", struck a five-star resort-style camp on a hilltop forest that provided Indian forces with a "sitting duck target" and caught the terrorists in their sleep.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the media the "intelligence-led operation" on the Pakistan-based terror group's biggest training camp in Balakot became "absolutely necessary" as it was planning more suicide attacks in India, after the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in which 40 soldiers were killed. The JeM claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack.

Gokhale said the camp was located in Balakot but did not elaborate further. Sources said the reference was to the town in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80 km from the Line of Control and near Abbotabad where Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in hiding by covert US forces.

Gokhale also did not give details of how the attacks were carried out but sources said a group of Mirage 2000 jets were used to drop bombs in the operation, which included various other aircraft. This is the first time since the 1971 war that India has used air power against Pakistan.

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First Published:Feb 27, 2019 3:26 PM IST