Fact Check: Viral image doesn't show Pakistan Air Force destroying Indian fighter jets, it is an old one

Meanwhile, several social media users are sharing various videos and images that relate to Operation Sindoor. Some users are sharing an image of a crashed jet plane, with the claim that the Pakistan Air Force has shot down 2 Indian jets, one at Akhnoor and one near Bathinda, and also a UAV near LoC, Pulwama.

The caption on the image goes as follows: “Dog fight between PAF and IAF resulted in the defeat of India. Pakistan Air Force destroyed one Indian fighter jet in the Akhnoor area, one near Bathinda, and one Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) near LoC close to Palwama. India targeted civilians but Pakistan attacked military targets.”

Here is the archive link of the claim.

Fact check:

The claim is False. No Indian Air Force jets have been shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.

When we searched for more information about the attacks that were carried out by the Indian Tri-forces, we found that this operation was a precision strike at 1.44am on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Indian Air Force has not attacked any military facilities of Pakistan. There has been no exchange of attacks between the Indian and Pakistani armed forces.

According to the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, under the Operation Sindoor, the forces hit terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed, the army in a press release said. Precision strike weapon systems of the three forces, the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, were used in the attacks. The forces used Kamikaze drones - also known as loitering munitions - weapons designed to crash into a target, typically carrying a warhead. The forces targeted nine sites, stressing "no Pakistani military facilities have been targeted". "India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and the method of execution”.

According to an article published on NDTV, among the nine sites targeted are the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's in Muridke. The operation was in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had vowed to avenge the terror attack in Pahalgam, monitored the operation through the night. Soon after the operation, NSA Ajit Doval spoke with the US NSA and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and briefed him on the actions taken. A detailed briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor', will happen in a press conference at 10 am on May 7, 2025.

When we performed Google reverse image search on the viral image, we found that the image is an old one and is not recent. We found the viral image shared by articles published in May 2021. According to articles published on several mainstream media websites, an Indian Air Force pilot was killed in a MiG-21 fighter jet crash at Langeana village of Punjab’s Moga district in the wee hours of Friday. The pilot has been identified as IAF MCC Squadron leader Abhinav Chaudhary, and he was on night training when the accident happened.

Indian Air Force also took to X and wrote that “There was an aircraft accident last night involving a Bison aircraft of IAF in the western sector. The pilot, Sqn Ldr Abhinav Choudhary, sustained fatal injuries. IAF condoles the tragic loss and stands firmly with the bereaved family.” This tweet was published on May 21, 2021.

Hence, the viral image is not recent and is not related to the India – Pakistan tensions and also Operation Sindoor. The image shows MIG 21 flight crash that occurred in Moga, Punjab in May 2021. The claim is False.

Update: The title has been updated to ‘Fact Check: Viral image doesn't show Pakistan Air Force destroying Indian fighter jets, it is an old one’ on May 8, 2025