Pakistan claims 75-80 IAF jets took part in 'Operation Sindoor', 3 Rafales that released payloads were destroyed

Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday claimed that his country exercised restraint after India launched an aerial offence on multiple targets. 

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“About 75-80 Indian fighter jets” were part of the offensive codenamed 'Operation Sindoor' by New Delhi, he said. Speaking to the media outside the Pak Parliament, Ishaq Dar reiterated that multiple Indian fighter jets were shot down by an alert Pakistan Air Force (PAF). India also lost a couple of drones as a consequence of the cross-border offensive, he claimed. According to Dar, Pakistan only targeted those planes that released payloads. 

 

“About 75-80 Indian fighter jets took part in the offensive, out of which Pakistan only shot down five jets releasing the payload, including two Indian drones,” FM Dar told the media.

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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reportedly congratulated Air Chief Zaheer Babar for the PAF's quick response that forced the "enemy to withdraw" before briefing the Parliament on the face-off. Shehbaz also stated that 80 Indian jets were part of the operation that he claimed to have targeted six Pakistani cities. However, Islamabad was "completely prepared” and forced them to retreat, he claimed. “They locked the communication of the Indian jets, forcing them to withdraw,” Shehbaz was quoted by media outlets as saying the House.

 

Reiterating that India lost multiple aircraft in the operation, the Pakistan Prime Minister told the Parliament that three Rafale jets and two drones were brought down by PAF which didn't even have to cross into the Indian airspace to hit the targets. He claimed that two of the Rafales crashed into India-occupied Kashmir, and the third fell into Punjab's Bathinda.

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The Indian Army on Wednesday released videos of the operation in which 24 missiles were fired in rapid succession on various targets, killing 70 terrorists across nine terror camps. At a press briefing in New Delhi later in the night, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh by his side, announced that the operation was a “measured and proportionate” response to the terrifying Pahalgam attack of April 22, that saw as many as 26 people killed—most of whom were civilians—and many more injured. New Delhi didn't give any information on casualties suffered during the operation. 

 

 

 

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