AMERICAN officials have said that Pakistan shot down an Indian jet using fighter aircraft it acquired from China, CNN and Reuters reported on Thursday.
CNN cited a senior US official saying as per their assessment, Pakistani forces shot down the jet during India’s air strikes inside Pakistan on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafales.
Indian officials have yet to confirm the claim. When asked about the downed planes, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri didn’t answer the question directly, or issue a denial. He merely said that official information on this topic will be shared at the right time, BBC News reported.
BBC terms video showing wreckage of French-made jet in Bathinda ‘authentic’
Earlier, on Wednesday, a high-ranking French intelligence official had told CNN that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Reuters cited two US officials as saying that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made J-10 aircraft to shoot down at least two Indian jets on Wednesday.
One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was high confidence that Pakistan launched air-to-air missiles against Indian fighter jets using the Chinese-made aircraft.
Another official said at least one Indian jet shot down by Pakistan was Rafale.
BBC has also confirmed that a Rafale aircraft fell in Indian territory.
BBC Verify said it had authenticated three videos purportedly showing the wreckage of a Rafale fighter jet in a field in Bathinda.
One of the clips geo-located by BBC Verify to a field near Bathinda in Indian Punjab showed troops collecting debris from the crashed jet.
“We have also located two further clips from the same location filmed at night. One shows debris in the field, while another shows a projectile catching fire in the sky, and then fire in an open field,” the British broadcaster added.
Justin Crump, a former British Army officer, confirmed to BBC Verify the wreckage visible in the video appeared to be of a French air-to-air missile used on both Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighter jets.
Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2025
