Pakistan rubbishes claim of downing jet, exposes India-Afghan disinfo campaign
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has categorically rejected claims that a Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and its pilot captured, terming the reports baseless and part of a coordinated propaganda campaign.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the ministry’s fact-check wing stated that the claim — attributed to officials of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — was widely amplified by Indian media and Afghan propaganda outlets without any credible evidence. It clarified that Pakistan’s armed forces have reported no aircraft loss and that no independent international media organisation or defence monitoring agency has verified the alleged incident.
The ministry pointed out that there is no visual proof of crash debris, no geolocated imagery, satellite evidence, or any confirmation of a captured pilot. It added that in modern conflict environments, verified aircraft crashes are rapidly documented — yet no such material exists in this case. The statement further revealed that several viral videos being circulated as “jet crash evidence” are old and unrelated clips recycled to fit a false narrative. A misleading image shared by Afghan media was also identified as being linked to a separate Russian aircraft incident in Turkey in 2021.
Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi termed the claim “totally untrue” and dismissed it outright.
In a related development, multiple Indian social media accounts circulated what analysts describe as AI-generated videos alleging that Afghan forces had shot down a Pakistani JF-17 fighter jet over Jalalabad and captured its pilot. Observers note that similar disinformation tactics were exposed during the 2025 Indo-Pak tensions, when several exaggerated and false claims — including fabricated stories about capturing Pakistan’s GHQ, destroying Karachi Port, arresting Pakistan’s prime minister and even attacks on Islamabad — were later debunked by independent fact-checkers and international media.
Analysts say the recycling of fake visuals and use of artificial intelligence-generated content reflect a pattern of coordinated psychological warfare aimed at misleading the public and manufacturing a perception of military success. They maintain that the latest episode appears to be another attempt to fuel tensions and propagate a fabricated narrative through digital manipulation and cross-border propaganda networks.
