Pakistan claims to have shot down Indian spy plane

Pakistan's military has claimed to have shot down a pilotless Indian spy plane which crossed into Pakistani airspace in the disputed…

Pakistan's military has claimed to have shot down a pilotless Indian spy plane which crossed into Pakistani airspace in the disputed Kashmir region.

The military said two Indian "remote piloted vehicles" (RPVs) had crossed over the Line of Control, or ceasefire line, in the past 48 hours.

"Pakistani troops took appropriate measures which forced the Indian RPV's to abandon their spying mission. One intruding RPV was seen falling in flames," the military said in a statement.

The statement said more than 200 similar violations by India had taken place in 2002. "The proof of which has been provided with the shooting down of these unmanned aircraft in the past."

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India, however, denied the incident.

"We have checked with all our forward areas and no such incident has taken place," an Indian defence spokesman told Reuters in Jammu, winter capital of Indian Kashmir.

The nuclear-armed neighbours went to the brink of war last year after New Delhi accused Pakistani-based militants of attacking its parliament. Tensions have since eased, although the two sides each expelled four diplomats and embassy officials last week.

The rivals also frequently exchange artillery and small arms fire across the Line of Control and Pakistan said it had killed at least five Indian soldiers in exchanges of fire on Monday.

Earlier, Pakistani police said unprovoked Indian firing had killed a 12-year-old boy in Pakistani Kashmir on Monday evening.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of arming and training militants who have waged a secessionist campaign in Indian-controlled Kashmir for more than a decade.

Pakistan denies the charge and says it provides moral and political support to what it calls Kashmiri freedom fighters.