After Operation Sindoor, Pakistan claims it shot down 3 Rafale Planes, 1 SU-30, 1 MIG-29 flown by India

After India carried out retaliatory military strikes on Pakistan in Operation Sindoor in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, Pakistan sought to downplay the offensive, claiming it had shot down three Rafale jets, one Su-30, and one MiG-29 flown by India.

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said his country’s military shot down five Indian jets and took an unknown number of Indian soldiers prisoner, Bloomberg reported. 

“They have taken the initiative, we have just responded,” Pakistan’s Asif told Bloomberg Television. “We have been saying all along the last fortnight that we will never initiate anything hostile toward India. But if India attack, we’ll respond. If India backs down, we’ll definitely wrap up,” Asif was quoted as saying.

The statement came as the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the Centre said.

‘Operation Sindoor’

As per the statement, nine sites were targeted in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir in Operation Sindoor.

"Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature, the Indian government said, adding that "no Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution."

It added, “These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered. We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable.”

India's full statement

India launched a major counter-terrorism move in the early hours on May 7 under PM Modi's supervision, striking terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)). As many as 9 sites were successfully targeted, India's statement said. Click here to read India's full statement

India briefs on Operation Sindoor

In a briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor’, India informed the media that the joint military operation targeting Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) lasted around 25 minutes in the early hours of Wednesday, May 7.

The strikes began at 1:05 am and concluded by 1:30 am. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi led the briefing.

What Pakistan said

As India launched a military strike on nine terror hotbeds in Pakistan – four in Pakistan, including Bahawalpur, Muridke, and Sialkot, and five in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) – Islamabad warned New Delhi saying that the strikes “will not go unpunished”.

In a post on X, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asserted that Islamabad reserves the right to respond to the Indian missile attack.

Pakistan Army's arbitrary firing kills 3

The Indian Army said Wednesday that three civilians had been killed overnight by artillery fired by Pakistan's army along the Line of Control in Kashmir.

"During the night of May 06-07... Pakistan Army resorted to arbitrary firing including artillery shelling from posts across the Line of Control and IB (international border) opposite Jammu and Kashmir", the Indian Army was quoted by news agency ANI as saying in a statement.

"Three innocent civilians lost their lives in indiscriminate firing/shelling", it added, saying that the Indian army is "responding in proportionate manner".