Did French intelligence official admit to Pakistan's assertion of downing IAF Rafale during Operation Sindoor?

Amid Pakistan's claim that it shot down Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale aircraft, an unnamed French intelligence official has said that "one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan". 

The French official told CNN that the French authorities were looking into whether one or more Rafale aircraft were downed. If the reports were true, this would be the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat, according to the official.

However, Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of the jet, has not yet responded to CNN’s requests for comment. 

India has not acknowledged the reports of Pakistan downing aircraft, including one Mig-21 and three Rafale. It, however, called out Pakistan for the misinformation campaign carried out, including releasing false videos and footage to prove its claim. 

One of the images being circulated on pro-Pakistan social media, claiming the debris belonged to a Rafale fighter jet of India, was fact checked by the PIB which clarified that the images being circulated are from a previous accident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-21 fighter jet.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's defence minister, Khawaja Asif cut a sorry figure on international television when a CNN journalist asked him for proof of Pakistan's claim on downing jets. "It is all on social media, and Indian social media, not our social media. The debris of the jets fell on their side. It is all over the Indian media," he claimed.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told the country's national press that they downed two Indian jets around 2:45 am and the third one, a Rafale, an hour later. Around 5 am, the fourth and fifth jet was downed, according to Asif.

Defence