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Police officials in Indian Kashmir said that two Indian pilots and a civilian had died after an Indian aircraft crashed in Budgam area on Wednesday (February 27).

The craft was initially reported by officials to be a plane, but a partial tail number from the craft seen by a Reuters witness showed it to be a Mi17 military helicopter.

The cause of the crash is unknown.

India on Tuesday said it had launched an air strike inside Pakistan and that its warplanes killed "a very large number" of fighters at a militant training camp, raising the risk of conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan denied there had been casualties, but has warned that it will respond to Indian aggression.

Tensions have been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb.

14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically after India's air strike on Tuesday.