After India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on terror training camps in Pakistan to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack, Islamabad claimed that it had downed India’s most advanced Rafale fighter jet, not one but three.
However, Pakistan has not given any video evidence or even an image of the downed Indian fighters yet. There is one unverified video circulating on social media where the underwing section of an aircraft is filmed by the locals. Open Source intelligence platforms are claiming it to be the underwing section of the Rafale fighter.
Further, some social media accounts posted pictures of the wreckage of an aircraft bearing serial number 001, claiming that this was India’s first Dassault Rafale EH fighter jet. The pictures were allegedly taken in the Indian city of Bathinda.
Defense analyst and an avid PLA watcher, Rick Joe, also posted videos allegedly from Bathinda in India that claim to show the engine of the crashed fighter jet. Joe said that from the distinct nozzle screw pattern on the engine, it looks like a part of M88 (Indian Rafale jet’s engine) and not M53 (Indian Mirage 2000’s engine).
However, in another tweet a few hours later, he seemed to doubt his own theory.
Additionally, the BS-001 image of the claimed Rafale fighter first appeared in September 2004.
A Chinese media outlet, Global Times, claimed that Pakistan had shot down three Indian fighter jets. However, the claims were refuted by the Indian Embassy in China.
“Dear Global Times, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation,” the Indian embassy in China said in a post on X.
Some Pakistan-affiliated accounts on the social media platform X are also posting videos of a crashed Indian MiG-29. However, the video is from September 2024, when the IAF lost a MiG-29 in the Barmer sector in Rajasthan.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) also refuted these claims.
“An old image showing a crashed aircraft is being re-circulated by pro-Pakistan handles in various forms in the current context of #OperationSindoor,” Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check handle said on X, adding that the image is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Rajasthan’s Barmer in September 2024.
According to PIB, another image circulating on social media shows a crashed IAF MiG-21 fighter in Moga district in Punjab in 2021.
Some accounts on platform X claimed that the downed fighter was not a Rafale but a Mirage-2000, another French-made fighter aircraft.
Meanwhile, Indian media outlet The Hindu tweeted that three Indian fighter jets have crashed in the Akhnoor sector of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the tweet was later deleted.
US media outlet CNN quoted Pakistani defense sources as claiming that they have shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale jets, one MiG-29, and one Su-30MKI fighter jet.
AFP news agency published an image of an aircraft wreckage lying in a field next to a red-brick building. However, it could not be ascertained which air force this fighter jet belonged to.
Meanwhile, speaking in the Pakistani parliament, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also claimed that they have shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales.
He further claimed that as many as 80 Indian aircraft participated in the operation.
“About 75-80 Indian fighter jets” were part of the offensive, he said, adding that India also lost a couple of drones.
In a statement to reporters, Pakistani security officials said their forces downed three French-built Rafale fighter jets, one MiG-29, one Su-30MKI, and an Israeli-made Heron drone, describing the action as taken “in self-defense.”
The claim was reiterated by Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhary, who listed the same aircraft in a video statement released through Reuters. No details were provided about the precise locations or methods of the alleged shootdowns.
However, due to the multiple claims swirling on social media and the lack of evidence or confirmation from official sources, the EurAsian Times can not independently verify any of these claims at this moment.
It is worth noting that earlier, Pakistan had claimed that it had jammed four Indian Rafale fighters flying close to the Line of Control (LoC) on the night of April 29-30, forcing them to retreat and make emergency landings. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that Pakistan jammed Indian Rafale fighters using Chengdu J-10C fighters.
However, the reports remained unverified.
The Indian Army has confirmed the multiple strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, but has not acknowledged that Pakistan shot down any of its fighter jets. A senior IAF official spoke with the EurAsian Times on condition of anonymity and refuted Pakistani claims that an Indian fighter jet had been shot down by Pakistan.
“All our pilots are safely back home,” the IAF official said. However, the official did not say that all our fighter jets are safely back home.
Since it is already more than twelve hours since the air strikes were launched, it is hard to believe that so far, Pakistan has not been able to find any credible evidence of the downed Indian aircraft.
The Pakistani armed forces, already facing a loss of credibility and reputation, as India was able to strike deep inside Pakistani territory despite the Pakistani armed forces being on high alert and anticipating an Indian attack, would have been eager to showcase to the world the video evidence of the downed fighter.
If confirmed, this would be the first loss of an Indian Rafale fighter jet. The IAF has 36 Rafale fighter jets in its arsenal, brought in a government-to-government contract in 2016. This would also be IAF’s first combat loss since Balakot 2019, when the IAF lost a MiG-21 Bison in an air duel with Pakistan.
Last month, India and France also inked an agreement to purchase 26 Rafale-M, the naval variant of the fighter jet, in a Rs 63,000 crore (approx. $7.5B) deal.
Operation Sindoor
India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.
According to the official Indian press release, India targeted as many as nine different sites in Pakistan.
According to sources, four of these sites were in Pakistan, while five were situated in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
According to news agency PTI, the terror headquarters of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen were targeted under night raids on the nine hideouts.
Among the sites targeted were: Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur (JeM), Markaz Taiba, Muridke (LeT), Sarjal, Tehra Kalan (JeM), Mehmoona Joya, Sialkot (HM), Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala (LeT), Markaz Abbas, Kotli (JeM), Maskar Raheel Shahid, Kotli (HM), Shawai Nalla Camp, Muzaffarabad (LeT), Syedna Bilal Camp, Muzaffarabad (JeM).
According to Sources quoted by PTI, the Pakistani Army and ISI used the services of the Special Services Group to facilitate the training of terrorists in these camps, besides logistics.
Pakistan said at least 26 people were killed in Wednesday’s strikes – including women and a three-year-old girl – and 46 were wounded. The country’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, described the strikes as “an act of war,” and Islamabad has vowed to retaliate.
It is worth noting that while India also struck training camps inside Pakistan in 2019 following the Pulwama terror attack, the sheer scale and intensity of these strikes are unprecedented and send a stern message to Pakistan as well as to the whole world that India will no longer tolerate continued Pakistani state support for terrorism in India.
The strikes deep inside Pakistan have once again raised the specter of nuclear escalation in South Asia. In the days leading to Operation Sindoor, the Pakistani establishment, including government ministers, has repeatedly threatened that Pakistan will use its “full spectrum of force,” including nuclear weapons, if India attacks it.
The Indian government, in its press release, took care to stress that India has only attacked the “terrorist infrastructure” and avoided attacking Pakistan military sites.
“Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and the method of execution,” the press release said.
A Pakistani response to the Indian air strikes is expected in the coming days.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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