Pakistan 'shoots down Indian warplanes, captures pilot' in Kashmir

Pakistan's army spokesman says the country's air force shot down two Indian warplanes after they crossed the boundary between the two nuclear-armed rivals in the disputed territory of Kashmir, and that one Indian pilot was captured.

Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor says Pakistani troops on ground captured the Indian pilot. He says one of the planes crashed in Pakistan's part of Kashmir and the other went down in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

He says that "one Indian pilot was arrested by troops on ground while two are in the area" on Wednesday.

Indian air force spokesman Anupam Banerjee in New Delhi said he has no information on Pakistan's statement.

Earlier, senior Indian police officer Munir Ahmed Khan said an Indian Air Force plane crashed in Indian-controlled sector of Kashmir. It wasn't immediately known if there were casualties.

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Another police officer, S.P. Pani, said firefighters were at the site in Budgam area where the warplane crashed. Eyewitnesses said soldiers fired in air to keep residents away from the crash site.

Indian on Tuesday launched multiple airstrikes on what it said were militant camps in Pakistan's territory, said to be the first since 1971.

It followed a suicide attack blamed on the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which killed 40 Indian soldiers in Kashmir earlier this month.

Tensions centre on Pakistan claims the whole of Kashmir region, which is mostly controlled by India.

Cross border fire around the "Line of Control", which separates the two sides, has killed and wounded dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides in recent years.

The EU and other countries have urged both sides to show restraint and prevent tensions escalating.

The two countries have fought several major conflicts since their independence from the UK in 1947.