New Delhi: Pakistan, which claims to have de-escalated tensions with India, has once again provoked the Indian forces by sending two fighter jets close to the line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch sector on Tuesday night.

Following the incident, India’s air defence system has been put on high alert. The Pakistani jets not only came close to the Indian air space, but also went supersonic near the LoC, causing a loud noise due to sonic boom. The blast-like sound also created panic among the locals. Sonic booms caused by large supersonic aircraft can be particularly loud and startling and may cause minor damage to some structures.

According to senior officials, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets were caught on Indian radars and preventive measures were taken. As the jets remained within Pakistani-controlled territory, they were not shot down.

Also read — All guns blazing: How India responded to Pulwama terrorist attack

On Wednesday, the cross-LoC trade was suspended after the Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire along the LoC by resorting to unprovoked mortar-shelling and firing with small arms in Poonch.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already kept all the air stations and important installations on Passive Air Defence Mode (PADM). The IAF has also cancelled leave permits of its officers.

The Army and IAF have issued classified directions to all stations, particularly active flying stations, base repair depots, and equipment depots, to increase their efforts to make spares available at a very short notice to meet war requirements.

Also read — Pakistan's Balakot lie exposed: Here's evidence IAF hit JeM hard

This comes weeks after the PAF on February 27 violated the Indian air space and tried to target Indian military positions before they were chased away. In the dogfight, one F-16 fighter jet of the PAF was shot down by the IAF, which also lost a MiG-21 Bison plane.

On February 26, the IAF targeted the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad's (JeM) biggest training camp in Pakistan's Balakot in a pre-emptive strike.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after over 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide terror attack by the JeM in Pulwama on February 14.