A Pakistani Independence Day announcement on August 14 says that gallantry medals, the Tagme-e-Jurrat have been awarded to two regular soldiers, Lance Havildar Mohd Kamal and BHM Nasir Ali, for shooting the MI-17 helicopter on May 28.

The MI-17 gunship, with four people IAF officers on board, had been flying over the Tololing area, when according to New Delhi, it was brought down by a shoulder-carried Stinger missile.

Meanwhile, in an effort to spur up the release of the 8 Pakistani prisoners of war it has in its custody, New Delhi on Monday contacted the International Committee for the Red Cross. There is believed to have been no direct contact from Pakistani officials on the return of the PoWs since the government offered to release themon Friday.

Back in Islamabad, in the face of continuing media criticism over the ``Kargil misadventure,'' Nawaz Sharif's government seems to have decided to adopt a strategy of delayed acknowledgement. Bit by bit, pieces of information are released on the ``sacrifices'' of Pakistan's ``gallant'' soldiers in the Kargil war and their superhuman efforts in warding off the ``enemy,'' that is, India.

The Pakistani citations says the two soldiers in question displayed unusual courage in the face of the ``enemy's artillery and air power.'' With ``great skill and enterprise,'' Lance Havildar Kamal shot down the enemy's helicopter gunship, with the result that the enemy did not have the guts to use air power in the area again, it adds.

BHM Nasir Ali Shah, meanwhile, standing ``under the open sky,'' targeted the enemy's helicopter gunship with a ``missile'' and brought it down.

Not so long ago, however, in fact on the same day the helicopter was brought down, Pakistan's military and civilian authorities had adifferent story to tell. Statements made then by Information minister Mushahid Hussain and Brigadier Rashid Qureshi of the Inter-Services, are in direct contradiction of their August 14 acknowledgements.

In a widely reported press conference on May 28, Hussain and Qureshi said that the Indian ``claim that (the helicopter) was shot down by a Stinger missile is a wild allegation.'' They, in fact, observed that ``India lost a helicopter which was mistakenly shot down by the Indian forces.''

This story, full of claims and disclaimers, however doesn't end here. Even as Hussain and Qureshi were giving their version to the press, an umbrella group of militants called the `United Jehadi Council' issued a statement in Islamabad on the same day accepting responsibility for shooting down the Indian helicopter.

The coup de grace, of course, is reserved for the Indian intercept of the telephone conversation on May 29 between the Pakistani army chief Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistani chief of staff Mohd Aziz. Askedwhether the MI-17 helicopter had fallen in Pakistan, the general is told, ``No sir. This has fallen in their area. We have not claimed it. We have got it claimed through the Mujahideen.''