Did Pakistan shoot down five Indian fighter jets? What we know

Four days aft India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire aft a accelerated escalation successful a subject struggle betwixt them, cardinal differences betwixt their battlefield claims stay unresolved.

Among them is Pakistan’s assertion that it changeable down 5 Indian combatant jets connected May 7, the archetypal time of fighting, successful effect to Indian attacks connected its territory.

As a conflict of narratives takes implicit from the existent fighting, Al Jazeera takes banal of what we cognize astir that claim, and why, if true, it matters.

What happened?

Tensions betwixt India and Pakistan erupted into subject confrontation connected May 7 aft India bombed 9 sites crossed six cities successful Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

India said it had struck what it called “terrorist infrastructure” successful effect to the deadly April 22 killings of tourists by suspected rebels successful India-administered Kashmir.

Gunmen connected April 22 changeable dormant 25 antheral tourists and a section pony rider successful the picturesque meadows of Pahalgam, triggering outrage and calls for revenge successful India. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for supporting the fighters liable for the attack, a complaint Islamabad denied.

Pakistan said Indian forces connected May 7 struck 2 cities successful Pakistan-administered Kashmir and 4 sites successful the country’s largest province, Punjab. It said civilians were killed successful the attacks. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh rejected the Pakistani claims, reiterating that Indian forces “struck lone those who harmed our innocents”.

Over the adjacent 4 days, the 2 nuclear-armed neighbours were engaged successful tit-for-tat strikes connected each other’s airbases, portion unleashing drones into each other’s territories.

Amid fears of a atomic exchange, apical officials from the United States made calls to Indian and Pakistani officials to extremity the conflict.

On May 10, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington had successfully mediated a ceasefire betwixt the nuclear-armed neighbours. Despite archetypal accusations of violations by some sides, the ceasefire has continued to clasp truthful far.

Pakistan reported connected Tuesday that Indian strikes killed astatine slightest 51 people, including 11 soldiers and respective children, portion India has said astatine slightest 5 subject unit and 16 civilians died.

A idiosyncratic inspects his damaged store pursuing overnight shelling from Pakistan astatine Gingal colony successful Uri district, Indian-administered Kashmir [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]

What has Pakistan claimed?

Speaking to Al Jazeera soon aft the May 7 attacks, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad, successful retaliation, had changeable down 5 Indian jets, a drone, and galore quadcopters.

Later successful the day, Pakistan’s subject spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the warplanes had each been downed wrong Indian territory, and craft from neither broadside crossed into the other’s territory during the attacks – an assertion India seconded.

“Neither India nor Pakistan had immoderate request to nonstop their ain craft retired of their ain nationalist airspace,” British defence expert Michael Clarke told Al Jazeera.

“Their standoff weapons each had agelong capable ranges to scope their evident targets whilst flying successful their ain airspace,” Clarke, who is simply a visiting prof successful the Department of War Studies astatine King’s College, London, added.

On Friday, Pakistan’s Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed claimed that among the 5 downed craft were 3 Rafales, a MiG-29, and an Su-30, providing physics signatures of the aircraft, successful summation to the nonstop locations wherever the planes were hit.

The conflict betwixt Pakistani and Indian jets lasted for conscionable implicit an hour, Ahmed, who is besides the lawman main of operations, told reporters.

He stated that the confrontation featured astatine slightest 60 Indian aircraft, among them 14 French-made Rafales, portion Pakistan deployed 42 “hi-tech aircraft,” including American F-16s and Chinese JF-17s and J-10s.

What has been India’s response?

After Chinese authorities quality outlet The Global Times wrote that Pakistan had brought down Indian combatant planes, India’s embassy successful China described the study arsenic “disinformation”.

However, beyond that, New Delhi has not formally confirmed oregon denied the reports.

Asked specifically whether Pakistan had managed to down Indian jets, India’s Director General of Air Operations AK Bharti avoided a nonstop answer.

“We are successful a combat script and losses are a portion of it,” helium said. “As for details, astatine this clip I would not similar to remark connected that arsenic we are inactive successful combat and springiness vantage to the adversary. All our pilots are backmost home.”

What other bash we know?

Beyond the authoritative accounts, section and planetary media outlets person reported antithetic versions of Pakistan’s claims of downing the jets.

According to Indian information sources who spoke to Al Jazeera, 3 combatant jets crashed wrong India-controlled territory.

They did not corroborate which state the warplanes belonged to. However, with neither broadside suggesting that Pakistani planes crossed into Indian airspace, immoderate debris successful Indian-controlled territory apt comes from an Indian plane.

Reuters quality bureau besides reported, citing 4 authorities sources successful Indian-administered Kashmir, that 3 combatant jets crashed successful the region. Reports successful CNN said that astatine slightest 2 jets crashed, portion a French root told the US outlet that astatine slightest 1 Rafale pitchy had been changeable down.

Photos taken by AP quality bureau photograph journalists showed debris of an craft successful the Pulwama territory successful Indian-administered Kashmir.

Will some sides ever hold connected what happened?

Defence expert Clarke said if India has so mislaid a Rafale, that would surely beryllium “embarrassing”.

“If it came down wrong Indian territory, which indispensable beryllium the lawsuit if 1 was destroyed, past India volition privation to support it lone arsenic a rumour for arsenic agelong arsenic possible,” helium added.

“India has said that “losses” are inevitable, and that is astir apt arsenic adjacent arsenic they volition get to admitting a circumstantial craft nonaccomplishment for a while.”