Indian Air Force blames officials for missile that accidentally landed in Pakistan

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has blamed officials from its missile squadron for an incident which accidentally launched a missile into Pakistan.

The incident occurred on March 9 when a BrahMos missile was fired accidentally and landed in the Pakistan territory. The inquiry was done by a senior IAF official.

"More than one official has been found blameworthy for the incident which was totally avoidable. The guilty officials would be given a swift and severe punishment," the Asian News International (ANI) quoted government sources as saying.

The court of inquiry also found a clear violation of standard operating procedures by the officials concerned, they said.

The IAF has taken the incident very seriously and is taking every step internally to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future and various standard operating procedures are being reviewed to see if there is any change required to make things smoother, said the sources.