‘Pakistan downs Indian jets on May 10 after Rafale debacle’  

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yet again displayed its complete superiority in the skies as the air force managed to destroy several Indian fighter jets during Bunyan-um-Marsoos, the operation launched on May 10 to target dozens of targets in India, sources said

According to the security sources, the pilots of the downed Indian jets were either injured or went missing.

GONE WITH THE WIND

The latest reports emerged just days after the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down five Indian aircraft on May 7 during Islamabad’s response to New Delhi’s missile strikes on civilian population, which India claimed were terrorist centres. Over 20 innocent civilians, including children and women were martyred in these attacks.

Neither initial reports nor the press briefing given by the military representatives after Bunyan-um-Marsoos had mentioned the downing of additional Indian aircrafts. But the latest revelations mean Indian air force suffered more losses after the humiliation faced on May 7 when five jets, including three Rafale planes, which New Delhi is still reluctant to accept.

MORE LOSSES

The security sources say one of the India jets was downed near Anantnag and it is feared that the pilot had been killed as a result.

It is added that the ejection seat of the destroyed aircraft was found an area near Gadol.

Meanwhile, two more fighter jets were downed in Pulwama and Ramban, after the injured pilots had been rushed to a hospital in Srinagar.

The security sources said another fighter jet was downed in Akhnoor with its wreckage found in fields, as the injured pilot was shifted to a local hospital.

On the other hand, the latest losses were not limited to the Jammu and Kashmir, as Pakistan downed a jet at Bathinda, a district in Indian Punjab, as well.

The confirmed downing of Rafale jets resulted in over 10 per cent decline in the share prices of Dassault, the French manufacturer of these aircraft, during the previous week.

But the Chinese manufacturer of J-10, which Pakistani pilots used to shoot down Rafale jets with PL-15 air-to-air missiles, rose by around 63 per cent jump during the same period.  

The Pakistan Air Force has now the unique distinction of downing a 4.5 generation fighter jet for the first time in the world.