Claim: An image shows a Pakistani fighter aircraft shot down by Afghanistan amid the ongoing conflict between the countries.
Fact: The image is not from the ongoing war between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is old and appeared online as early as January 2020.
On 28 February, an X user posted an image that apparently showed a Pakistani fighter jet shot down in the Afghan province of Nangarhar during the ongoing conflict between the neighbours. Below is a screenshot of the post:
Screenshot of the post claiming a Pakistani fighter jet was shot down.
Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict
Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in cross-border clashes since 26 February.
The conflict sparked when Afghanistan launched retaliatory attacks against Pakistani posts on the border on 26 February. Soon after, Pakistan launched an operation “Righteous Fury” in response, conducting airstrikes in Kabul and other cities. The Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan was in an “open war” with Afghanistan as it launched the attack.
On 1 March, Pakistan also struck Bagram airbase, the former US base in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s 26 February attack on Pakistan was in response to earlier airstrikes by Pakistan inside Afghan territory on 21 February. This attack by Pakistan inside Afghanistan, targeted militant hideouts on 21 February 2026, according to Dawn.
The strikes were in response to a series of terror attacks in Pakistan — which the country blames on militants operating from the neighboring country— according to an X post by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Afghan authorities, cited by publications, acknowledged the attacks and stated that civilians, including women and children, were among the dead. Sources quoted by Dawn and Reuters claimed that at least 70 terrorists had been killed in the attack. The airstrikes reportedly targeted regions in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in Afghanistan.
The two sides engaged in clashes along the border following the Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan on 21 February.
Information Minister Atallullah Tarar claimed in a 4 March post on X that at least 481 Afghan Taliban personnel had been killed and approximately 696 injured during the ongoing military operation.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and found that it is unrelated to the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan
An X user posted the same photo on 7 January 2020, stating that a Pakistani jet had crashed in Mianwali, Pakistan and two pilots were killed. This suggested that the image was old and unrelated to the ongoing conflict.
Dawn published an article, titled “Two pilots martyred in aircraft crash”, on 8 January 2020 that carries the same cover photo as the one being fact-checked. The article states that a Pakistani FT-7 aircraft crashed during an operational training mission due to a technical fault. Both pilots aboard the aircraft died in the crash, according to the same report.
Left: Image in the claim. Right: Image published by Dawn in January 2020.
A platform called “Fighter Jets World” also published the image in an article on 7 January 2020, linking it to the same crash in Mianwali.
Moreover, on 28 February Pakistan’s Information Ministry refuted claims of a fighter jet being shot down in Afghanistan. Soch Fact Check has not found any visuals of remnants or debris so far that could allow an independent analysis to find out ift a fighter jet was indeed shot down.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the image in the claim is unrelated.
Virality
This image appeared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Facebook, the image was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here (1st image), here, here, here, here, here, here,
The image was posted on Instagram here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The image is not from the ongoing war between Pakistan and Afghanistan as it appeared in January 2020.
Background image in cover photo: PBS News
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