India’s claims of shooting down Pakistani F-16 refuted by world, says PAF official

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Deputy Chief of Air Staff Operations Air Marshal Waqas Sulehri has said that India’s claims of shooting down a Pakistani F-16 have been refuted by the world.

Talking to a private news channel, the air marshal gave the PAF’s formal response over the shooting down of India Aircraft and others.

“Only three aircraft were shot down on February 27 which belonged to Indian Air Force (IAF),” said the air marshal.

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The PAF official said the Indian false claims of destroying a Pakistani aircraft have been challenged globally and the only planes that were destroyed were MiG-21, Su-30 and Mi-17 helicopter. He said the Indian claim of hitting Pakistani F-16 was based on lies as nothing of that sort has occurred.

“The Foreign Policy magazine has also referred to the US government claims of confirming the total number of Pakistani fighter jets,” he added.

The world-renowned author Michael Kugleman also denied Indian claims of shooting Pakistani aircraft, he added.

“The India Today anchorperson has been confronted by an expert during a live programme claiming a fighter jet engine as of F-16,” he added.

The then IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan’s aircraft MiG-21 could carry four missiles that have been recovered from the wreckage and are on display for both the local and international media.

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Air Marshal Suleri informed that Christen Fair had also denied the IAF claims of hitting an F-16 whereas the aircraft manufacturers also confirmed the total number of fighter jets in Pakistan.

He added that the PAF completed the mission as per the Prime Minister’s directives.

Referring to IAF’s then Wing Commander Abhinandan’s claims of shooting an F-16, the air marshal said that as per the set practice of the world, the fighter pilot make a call after locking their target which was not found in this case.

He informed that Operation Swift Retort was part of the contingency prepared for a long time with a similar name.

Indian pilot Abhinandan gets wartime military bravery award

The PAF’s official’s comments come days after Indian Air Force Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who was downed by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and then paraded on video, was awarded the ‘Vir Chakra’ in a ceremony.

Abhinandan was recently promoted to the rank of Group Captain, according to India media.

Indian media had been claiming that Abhinandan had shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft during aerial combat on February 27, 2019, a claim both Pakistan and later the United States had rejected.

Read more: India honouring Abhinandan a classic case of fabrication, pure fantasy, says Pakistan

“Pakistan’s F-16 combat jets have all been accounted for,” A US-based Foreign Policy magazine, citing US officials, had confirmed, contradicting the Indian air force assessment.

In the process, he flew over Pakistan occupied Kashmir and his MiG-21 was hit and he had to eject over the territory controlled by Islamabad.

The Indian pilot was in fact, captured by Pakistani villagers and then rescued by the Pakistani soldiers.