Four days after India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire after a rapid escalation of military conflict between them, the important differences between their battlefield claims remain unresolved.
Among them is Pakistan’s claim that five Indian fighter jets were fired down on May 7, the first day of the battle in response to India’s attack on its territory.
As the story battles take over from the actual battles, Al Jazeera prevents us from knowing about the claims and why it matters if it is true.
what happened?
Tensions between India and Pakistan erupted into a military conflict on May 7 after bombing nine locations in six Kashmir cities managed by Pakistan and Pakistan.
India said it had hit what is called “terrorist infrastructure” in response to the fatal killing of tourists by allegedly controlled Kashmir rebels.
On April 22, the gunman shot 25 male tourists and local pony riders in a painting meadow in Pahargam, causing rage and sought revenge in India. Islamabad denied New Delhi accused Pakistan of supporting fighters responsible for the attack.
Pakistan said on May 7, Indian troops struck two cities, Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Punjab, four cities in the country’s largest province. It said civilians were killed in the attack. India’s Defense Minister Rajnassin rejected Pakistan’s claims, reiterating that the Indian military “stricken only those who hurt our innocent people.”
Over the next four days, the two nuclear-armed neighbors engaged in offensive strikes on each other’s air base, while unleashing drones into each other’s territory.
Amid fears about nuclear exchange, top US officials called on Indian and Pakistani officials to end the conflict.
On May 10, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington successfully mediated a ceasefire between his nuclear-armed neighbors. Despite initial accusations of violations by both sides, the ceasefire has been held so far.
Pakistan said on Tuesday that the Indian strike killed at least 51 people, including 11 soldiers and several children, while India said at least five military personnel and 16 civilians have been killed.
What did Pakistan claim?
Speaking to Al Jazeera shortly after the attack on May 7, Pakistani Information Minister Atala Tara said Islamabad had fired down five Indian jets, drones and many quadcopters in retaliation.
Later that day, Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Schaudhry said all the fighters had been defeated within Indian territory, and neither side passed to other territory during the attack – India supported it.
“Neither India nor Pakistan needed to send their aircraft out of their national outer space,” British defense analyst Michael Clark told Al Jazeera.
“All of their standoff weapons had a long enough range to reach their obvious targets while flying in their own airspace,” added Clark, a visiting professor at the Graduate School of War at King’s College, London.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Aviation Deputy Mahmel alleged that in addition to the exact location where the plane collided, three Rafaes, MIG-29 and SU-30 among the five fallen aircraft were providing digital signatures for the aircraft.
The battle between Pakistan and Indian jets lasted more than an hour, Ahmed told reporters that he is also the deputy director of operations.
He said the conflict featured at least 60 Indian aircraft, including 14 French-made Rafale, and Pakistan deployed 42 “high-tech aircraft” including the American F-16 and the Chinese JF-17 and J-10.
What is India’s response?
After a Chinese state news outlet, the Global Times wrote that Pakistan had defeated Indian fighter jets, and the Indian embassy in China described the report as “disinformation.”
But beyond that, New Delhi has not formally confirmed or rejected the report.
Specifically, when asked whether Pakistan defeated an Indian jet, India’s Air Operations Director AK Bharti avoided a direct answer.
“We’re in a combat scenario and losses are part of that,” he said. “For more information, we’re still in combat at this point and we’re in the advantage of the enemy, so we don’t want to comment on that. All the pilots are back home.”
What else do you know?
Beyond official accounts, local and international media have reported various versions of the claims of Pakistani jet collapse.
According to an Indian security source who spoke to Al Jazeera, three fighters crashed within India-controlled territory.
They did not confirm which country the fighters belonged to. However, neither side suggests that Pakistani planes have crossed Indian airspace, so India-controlled territorial fragments could come from Indian planes.
Reuters also reported that three fighter jets had crashed in the region, citing four government sources in Kashmir, which were controlled by India. CNN reports that at least two jets crashed, but French sources told the US outlet that at least one Rafalejet had been shot down.
Photographs taken by Associated Press Photo Journalists showed fragments of an aircraft in the Pulwama district of Kashmir, managed by India.
Will both parties agree to what happened?
Defence analyst Clark said that if India actually loses Rafale it would certainly be “embarrassing.”
“If it comes down within Indian territory, if it has to be if it is destroyed, India will want to keep it as rumors as possible,” he added.
“India has said that ‘loss’ is inevitable, which is probably as close as they would admit the loss of a particular aircraft for a while. ”
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