Operation Sindoor: PIB fact check debunks viral jet crash image, says it is linked to 2024 incident

Pakistan claims to have retaliated to ‘Operation Sindoor’, circulating images of crashed aircraft, which India's Press Information Bureau debunked.

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In retaliation for deadly terrorist attack on April 22 that killed over two dozen civilians, India launched strikes against Pakistan through 'Operation Sindoor'. This escalation is the latest in a decades-long conflict over Kashmir, a scenic valley in the Himalayas wedged between the two nuclear-armed nations.

The strikes, which occurred two weeks after the attack, resulted in at least eight fatalities, according to Pakistani officials. Pakistan has vowed to respond, but has not specified when or how.

Some Pakistan-based social media handles claimed that Pakistan security forces gunned down Indian fighter jets and used some footages to support their claim. In these videos, a crashed aircraft can be seen.

However, the fact check handle of Press Information Bureau has dismissed these claims and stated that the image is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in September 2024 in Rajasthan's Barmer.

"An old image showing a crashed aircraft is being re-circulated by pro-Pakistan handles in various forms in the current context of #OperationSindoor

The image is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, in September 2024." the post reads.

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The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, citing opposition to Indian policies. India accused Pakistan-based terrorists of being behind the attack, with evidence pointing to operatives in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, a claim that Pakistan has repeatedly denied.