Pakistan Dismisses Afghan Claims of Downed Fighter Jet as ‘Coordinated Disinformation’
By Sadia Khan :
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has categorically rejected claims circulating on social media that a Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and its pilot captured alive.
The ministry’s fact-check account on X attributed the allegations to Afghan Taliban officials, stating the claims were subsequently “amplified by Indian media” as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign .
No Evidence, Officials Say
In a detailed rebuttal Saturday, the ministry stated that Pakistan’s armed forces had not reported any aircraft loss, and no independent international media outlet or defence monitoring agency had verified the claim .
“The story relies solely on statements from Afghan officials and selective media amplification,” the ministry said, emphasizing the absence of visual proof such as crash debris, wreckage site imagery, or footage of the alleged captured pilot .
Officials pointed out that in modern conflict environments, verified crashes are rapidly documented with geolocated imagery and satellite evidence—none of which exists in this case .
Recycled Footage and Misleading Images
The ministry further alleged that viral footage being shared as evidence of a jet crash was actually from an unrelated panic situation in Afghanistan. “Multiple videos used in the narrative are old clips being recycled to fit the false claim,” the statement read .
It also highlighted a misleading image shared by TOLO News, a Afghan news outlet, claiming the picture corresponds to a Russian aircraft incident in Turkey in 2021. “Reusing unrelated foreign crash imagery is a deliberate attempt to construct a false narrative,” the ministry said .
Coordinated Disinformation Campaign
According to the ministry, hundreds of fake or misleading videos linked to what it described as the “India–Afghan propaganda ecosystem” have been debunked over the past two days .
“The current jet claim fits into the same coordinated disinformation cycle,” the statement said, adding that no credible defence analysis suggests Afghan forces possess the operational capability demonstrated in the claim .
Foreign Office Weighs In
Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi separately addressed the allegations, stating flatly that Afghan claims of downing a Pakistani jet and capturing a pilot were “totally untrue” .
The rebuttals come as Pakistan and Afghanistan remain locked in intense military confrontation, with cross-border clashes continuing for a third day and both sides engaged in information warfare alongside kinetic operations .
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