Read the news in English and Chinese"India sacks 3 officers for firing accidental missile to Pakistan India sacks 3 officers for firing accidental missile to Pakistan

Indian Brahmos cruise missile.

(AP file photo)

◎Guan Shuping

The Indian Air Force has dismissed three officers for accidentally firing a supersonic cruise missile into neighbor and rival Pakistan during a routine military exercise in March.

The Indian Air Force has fired three officers after they accidentally fired a supersonic cruise missile into hostile neighboring Pakistan during a routine military exercise in March.

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An inquiry “found that deviation from standard operating procedure,” a spokesman for the air force Wing Commander Ashish Moghe said via text message late Tuesday. “Three officers have primarily been held responsible.”

Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ashshee Mogg said in a text message late Tuesday that the investigation "found a breach of standard operating procedures" for which "three officers are primarily responsible."

The BrahMos medium-range cruise missile was fired on March 9 from the garrison town of Ambala, about 200 kilometers north of the capital New Delhi.

The BrahMos medium-range cruise missile was launched in mid-March from a military compound in Ambala, about 200 kilometers north of the capital New Delhi.

The missile landed in Pakistan's Punjab province. Islamabad was prepared for retaliatory strike but held back because an initial assessment indicated something was amiss.

The missile fell in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Islamic City authorities had intended to retaliate, but did not act after initial assessments suggested that something was not right.

News Dictionary

sack: verb, dismissed, dismissed.

Example: He was sacked for plagiarism. (He was sacked for plagiarism.)

deviation: noun, to deviate, to deviate from, or to be different from (the normal state most people think or accept), verb form deviate.

Example: We have deviated from the planned itinerary.

hold back: Phrase, restraint, hold back, withdraw, hinder.

Example: I managed to hold back my anger at that moment.