Pakistan says it fired on Indian plane over Pakistani airspace

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) _ Pakistani troops fired on an Indian plane that strayed into Pakistan's airspace, a government spokesman said Monday. <br><br>The plane returned to Indian airspace after the

Monday, March 11th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) _ Pakistani troops fired on an Indian plane that strayed into Pakistan's airspace, a government spokesman said Monday.

The plane returned to Indian airspace after the incident, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi said without giving the location or the date. An aide to Quereshi said the incident took place two weeks ago.

Quereshi said the plane included an unidentified senior officer and was monitoring Pakistani positions along the boundary between Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir.

In New Delhi, the Indian Defense Ministry said it was investigating an incident where an Indian air force transport aircraft was fired at near Kargil on Feb. 19.

The aircraft was damaged but flew to the nearby Leh airfield in the northern Himalayas.

Kargil in Indian-controlled Kashmir was the scene of an 11-week armed conflict between India and Pakistan in 1999.

Relations between the two nuclear-armed South Asian rivals worsened after a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian parliament, which the Indians blamed on Pakistani-backed Islamic extremists.

The two countries have massed hundreds of thousands of troops along their border. India refuses to withdraw its forces until it is convinced Pakistan has stopped what the Indians call ``cross-border terrorism'' in Kashmir, which countries claim.