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.”
