Pakistan’s military announced on Wednesday that it had shot down seven Indian fighter jets – including three state-of-the-art French Rafale warplanes – on the night between May 6 and 7 as it retaliated against India’s missile attack on civilian infrastructure at six locations along the Working Boundary and the Line of Control.
India launched military strikes on targets in Pakistan, both countries said on Wednesday and Pakistan claimed it had shot down seven Indian Air Force jets, in an escalation that has pushed the two nations to the brink of wider conflict.
Pakistan responded swiftly, as the country’s military officials stated that they had shot down five Indian aircraft: three Dassault Rafale fighters, one Sukhoi Su-30MKI, one Mirage 2000, one Jaguar and one Mikoyan MiG-29, as well as an Israeli-built IAI Heron reconnaissance drone. These claims were delivered publicly by Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
While Indian authorities are tight-lipped, they confirmed the downing of all these platforms, and multiple incidents were acknowledged within Indian territory. Indian officials acknowledged three pilots had been injured. Indian authorities did not confirm the specific aircraft types lost or the downing of the Heron drone.
After much speculation about fighter jet losses, an image has now emerged online showing the vertical tail of an Indian Rafale allegedly shot down by the Pakistani AMRAAM. As we mentioned in our previous report about the ongoing clashes between India and Pakistan, the latter claimed it shot down seven aircraft of the former, including three Rafales.
India’s missile strikes early Wednesday morning targeted “terrorist infrastructure” across nine sites in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, it said. They came in response to a massacre by militants of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir two weeks ago, that New Delhi blamed on its neighbor.
According to reports, parts of the missile were found in the Hoshiarpur district of Indian Punjab, roughly 200 kilometres from Aklian Kalan village, where remains of a MICA missile were discovered, and about 180 kilometres from Ambala Airbase, home to the No. 17 Squadron that flies Rafale fighters.
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.
From early Wednesday the two sides have exchanged shelling across their border, with locals on both sides telling NYT they were taking shelter. A NYT journalist in Pakistan-administered Kashmir heard multiple loud explosions.
“A shell landed at a house close to the mosque in which two people were injured. Shells also hit other houses in our area and we fled from our area to a safer place,” said Shakeel Butt, a resident of Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. A senior Indian defense source said at least eight people had been killed on the Indian side of the border.
Based on photographic documentation of engine parts recovered at the site, some independent analysts concluded that the aircraft may have been either an Indian Mirage 2000, citing similarities to the Snecma M53-P2 engine. Additional incidents were reported in Akhnoor, where the Indian Air Force confirmed the loss of a Su-30MKI, and in the Punjab village of Akalia Kalan, where an unidentified aircraft crashed around 2:00 a.m., resulting in the death of one laborer and injuries to others. Locals initially mistook the crash for a meteor. Indian security forces secured the area.
Pakistani military sources later said they shot down five Indian Air Force jets and one drone in “self-defence,” claiming three Rafale jets – sophisticated multi-role fighters made in France – were among those downed as well as a Mig-29 and an SU-30 fighter.
Photos published by AFP news agency showed aircraft wreckage lying in a field next to a red-brick building. But it was not immediately clear from the pictures of the wreckage who the aircraft belonged to.
Indian jets have previously bombed Pakistani territory following militant attacks on its soil but Wednesday’s operation is the deepest India has struck inside its neighbor since the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, the biggest of several wars between the two countries.
The situation is now “obviously serious and fluid,” said Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University. “Retaliation to India’s actions will likely now be inevitable.”
India dubbed its military action “Operation Sindoor” – a reference to the red vermilion, or powder, many Hindu women wear on their foreheads after marriage. It is a symbolic nod to April’s massacre on civilians that left several women widowed.
The identification was based on the remains of a Russian-made K-36DM ejection seat, used in both platforms. This particular aircraft is believed to have crashed in the Ramban district of Indian-administered Kashmir.
World leaders and the United Nations have expressed concern over the strikes and have urged restraint from both countries. The US Department of State said it was “closely monitoring” the flare-up.
India said its strikes were “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature.”
“No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” its defense ministry said in a statement.
The strikes have put the region on alert, with commercial airlines keeping almost entirely clear of Pakistani airspace, flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed. The airport in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir’s biggest city, has been closed to civilian traffic, and several airlines have suspended or diverted flights to Pakistan and northwest India.
J-10C Scored First Kill
Online sources and open-source intelligence observers suggested that additional aircraft may have been downed beyond those acknowledged officially, implying that this confrontation may represent the most significant single-day aerial losses for the Indian Air Force since the 1971 war.
Some analysts listed up to seven aircraft lost, including a Rafale in Punjab and a Jaguar in Indian airspace. Defence Pakistan claimed that a J-10C fighter jet had shot down an Indian Jaguar using a PL-15E long-range air-to-air missile while the aircraft was preparing to fire an Israeli-made Rampage stand-off missile.
An Indian Jaguar may have been shot down by a Pakistani J-10C fighter jet using a PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile, just as the Indian aircraft was preparing to launch an Israeli-made Rampage stand-off missile.
In PAF service, the PL-15E is believed to equip both the JF-17 Block III and the J-10CE, which were explicitly acquired to counter India’s aircraft.
India, Pakistan’s air power
Military analysts are evaluating this episode as one of the most significant air engagements in South Asia since the Kargil War of 1999. It also represents what may be the largest single-day aircraft losses for the Indian Air Force since the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, during which the IAF conducted over 16,000 sorties and played a decisive role in the Eastern Theater. In the 1999 Kargil War, the IAF utilized Mirage 2000 aircraft for high-altitude precision bombing, with MiG-29s and MiG-21s providing escort and air superiority roles. The 2019 Balakot incident, which followed a suicide bombing in Pulwama, led to Indian airstrikes on a site in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, followed by a Pakistani retaliatory air operation and aerial engagement, including the downing of an Indian MiG-21. Other notable military tensions have included the 2001–2002 military standoff and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
India’s current air force structure includes approximately 1,900 aircraft, including Su-30MKI, Rafale, Mirage 2000, MiG-29, Tejas fighters, and multiple unmanned aerial systems. Pakistan’s air capabilities include American F-16, Chinese-origin JF-17s, J-10Cs, and integrated air defense assets such as the HQ-9B. The use of long-range weapons, such as the PL-15 air-to-air missile and the HQ-9B SAM, if confirmed, reflects the operational reach both sides currently possess. The geography of Kashmir, including its high-altitude terrain and close proximity to forward bases, reduces engagement times and increases the risk of escalation due to miscalculation or incomplete intelligence. Both countries continue to monitor the region closely, and there has been no announcement of de-escalation initiatives at the time of writing. The situation remains fluid.
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