India’s Air Force said it has sacked three officers for accidentally firing a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile into neighboring Pakistan on March 9 this year.
An official inquiry into the mishap “found that deviation from the standard operating procedure by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile,” the air force said in a statement.
“These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the central government with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers on August 23,” the official statement said.
The BrahMos missile is a nuclear-capable cruise missile developed jointly by Russia and India, with a range of 180 miles and close to Mach 3 speed capability.
India earlier blamed ithe ncident on a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance.
The incident had escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Pakistan strongly protested against the incident and demanded a joint probe into a missile incident, rejecting New Delhi’s decision to hold an internal inquiry into the incident and calling on the international community to play a role.
Pakistan’s air force said the missile travelled at Mach 3 at an altitude of 12,000m (40,000ft) and flew 124km (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace before crashing. The missile landed in Mian Channu, Pakistan, on March 9 after flying across the border from the northern Indian city of Sirsa, in Haryana state.
Pakistan said that the missile had “endangered many passenger and international flights in Indian and Pakistani airspace” as well as “human life and property on the ground.”