Pakistan Defence Minister Cites 'Social Media' As Sole Proof of Downing Indian Jets

Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, has linked his country’s claim of shooting down five Indian fighter jets, including Rafales, during Operation Sindoor to unverified reports circulating on social media. In an interview with CNN, Asif made the bizarre remark when questioned about whether Pakistan possessed any concrete evidence to back the claim.

“It is all on social media, and Indian social media, not our social media. The debris of the jets fell on their side. It is all over the Indian media,” the Pakistan's Defence Minsiter said when the interviewer asked for the proof.

Asif said that Pakistan was trying to avoid full-scale war with India. "There is a possibility of expansion of this conflict into a full-fledged war, which we are trying to avoid,” Asif told CNN.

He said that the attack on Wednesday was a "clear-cut violation, and an invitation to expand the conflict and maybe convert it into something much wider and much more dangerous for the region," he added.

India in the early hours of Wednesday targeted terrorist installations including training camps and launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Killing dozens of terrorists and avenging the barbaric April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Pakistan acknowledged the strike and the resulting casualties. Subsequently, the fact-checking unit of India’s Press Information Bureau revealed that Pakistani social media accounts were circulating an old, unrelated image of a crashed aircraft, falsely claiming it showed a downed Rafale. The image, it clarified, was from a 2021 crash.

"Beware of old images shared by pro-Pakistan handles in the present context! An old image showing a crashed aircraft is being circulated with the claim that Pakistan recently shot down an Indian Rafale jet near Bahawalpur during the ongoing Operation Sindoor. #PIBFactCheck: This image is from an earlier incident involving an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet that crashed in Moga district in Punjab in 2021," it shared on its X handle.

India launched 'Operation Sindoor' in the early hours of May 7, targeting nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This action was a direct response to the devastating terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, including 25 Indians and one Nepali national.

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