Media reports suggest that the US plane was forced to turn back toward Muscat shortly after it tried to enter Pakistani airspace

Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority reportedly thwarted an attempt by a US military plane to enter its airspace on Wednesday.

The authority claimed that the US jet had tried to enter into Pakistani airspace from the Karachi region without having the relevant clearances and codes.

According to reports, the US plane was coming from Muscat and Pakistan’s civil aviation authority claimed the air traffic controller in the area immediately sent out a warning, so the aircraft was forced to head back.

The US side has yet to comment on the reports.

Pakistan had closed its airspace in February this year after an Indian Air Force (IAF) strike on an alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror training camp in the country's Balakot region.

The IAF strike on 26 February came a fortnight after a suicide bomber affiliated with JeM killed 40 Indian security personnel travelling in a convoy through Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama region.

India and Pakistan have contested the Kashmir region, the southern part of which lies in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, since the end of British rule in 1947. Despite a ceasefire reached in 2003 after several armed conflicts, instability in the region has showed no signs of abating and has led to the emergence of various extremist groups.