ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Saturday dismissed claims by Afghan Taliban officials that a Pakistani fighter jet had been shot down over eastern Afghanistan and its pilot captured, calling such media reports part of a “coordinated” disinformation campaign.
The statement follows a report by AFP that quoted Afghan military and police officials in Jalalabad, who claimed to have downed an aircraft in Nangarhar province. The reports come at a time of cross-border skirmishes between the neighbors over a rise in militancy in Pakistan.
The latest clashes erupted after Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory last weekend triggered retaliatory attacks along the border on Thursday, exacerbating long-simmering disputes over Islamabad’s claims that Kabul shelters Pakistani Taliban militants. Afghanistan denies it.
Following reports of the Taliban shooting down Pakistani jet, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) in Islamabad issued a detailed fact-check, saying there was no evidence to support the Afghan claims.
“The claim that a Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in Nangarhar and its pilot captured is false,” the ministry said in a statement. “No aircraft loss has been verified. No pilot capture evidence exists. Circulated visuals are recycled and unrelated.”
The ministry said the reports were being “amplified by Indian media and Afghan propaganda outlets” to construct a false narrative, noting that images circulated by some Afghan news agencies were actually from a 2021 aircraft incident in Turkiye.
The Pakistani ministry urged the public to exercise caution and not to rely on “unverified battlefield claims circulated through partisan or hostile outlets.”
Wahidullah Mohammadi, a spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, earlier told AFP the jet was downed by Afghan forces and the pilot was “captured alive.” Local residents reported hearing explosions and seeing a parachute near the city’s airport, according to the news agency.
The contradictory claims come amid a significant military flare-up along the Durand Line.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistani forces had killed 331 Afghan fighters and targeted 37 military locations in 48 hours of clashes that followed Islamabad’s airstrikes on alleged militant camps in Afghanistan last week. Conversely, Afghan officials claimed more than 50 Pakistani soldiers had been killed. The figures from both sides couldn’t be independently verified.
The international community, including the United Nations, China, and Russia, has called for an immediate end to hostilities. While the United States has expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against militant attacks, the European Union has urged both sides to de-escalate.
