Claim: An image shows an Indian jet shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) after India launched overnight airstrikes on 7 May, hitting different locations in Pakistan.
Fact: The image is old and is actually from 2021, when an Indian fighter plane MiG-21, crashed near Langeana Khurd village of Moga district in Indian Punjab. The incident reportedly resulted in the death of one pilot.
On 7 May 2025, an account on X, Tejasswi Prakash, posted images and video with the caption, “Right after #OperationSindoor by our forces.
Bloody Pakistanis shoot down 1 Rafale & 1 Su-30 near Akhnur!
And destroyed our brigade HQ”.
The different visuals show destroyed fighter planes, and one of them shows plane debris lodged in the ground. These visuals went viral after India attacked Pakistan in the early hours of 7 May 2025. Soch Fact Check only investigates one particular image in which the tail of a fighter plane can be seen:
India-Pakistan Escalation 2025
India attacks Pakistani military bases
India and Pakistan briefly exchanged military strikes for four-days in May in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.
On 8 May, a Pakistani military spokesman said they had shot down 25 drones in multiple cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Gotki, Attock, Chakwal, Gujranwala, Sukkur, and Umerkot. At least one man was killed in Ghotki, Sindh, according to reports. A farmer was also reportedly killed in the drone attack in Attock, Dawn reported.
Three drones were shot down, and four soldiers were injured in the attack in Lahore, Dawn reported. Other drone crash incidents were reported in Chakwal, as well as in Gujranwala, where three were shot down, as reported by Dawn. Pakistani defences shot down an Indian drone in Gujranwala, according to reports by Geo News and Express Tribune, while an Indian drone was also reportedly destroyed in the Cholistan desert in Bahawalpur. According to Dawn, “parts of an Indian drone were found in Peer Jhand village in the jurisdiction of the Dinga police station.”
In response to drone attacks, India said Pakistan carried out missile and drone attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to Reuters. Pakistan denied this allegation, adding that it was “entirely unfounded, politically motivated, and part of a reckless propaganda campaign aimed at maligning Pakistan”.
Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos
On 10 May, the Pakistan Army announced a counterattack against India at 4:38 am — named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos”, which is an Arabic phrase that translates to “steel wall”. They added that the action was “part of the military conflict Marka-e-Haq”.
The military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said Pakistan targeted “26x military targets as well as facilities that were used to target Pakistani citizens and those enterprises that were responsible for fomenting terrorism in Pakistan”.
The targeted airbases included those at “Suratgarh, Sirsa, Bhuj, Naliya, Adampur, Bhatinda, Barnala, Halwara, Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Udhampur, Mamun, Ambala, and Pathankot”, it said. “[The] BrahMos storage facilities at Beas and Nagrota were also destroyed.”
Pakistan claimed to have hit “multiple targets in India and India-administered Kashmir”, CNN reported. “The Pakistan military said that, in an ‘eye for eye’ retaliation, they targeted the Indian air bases that were used to launch missiles against Pakistan,” it added.
On the other hand, the Indian Defence Ministry said Pakistani drones were “sighted at 26 locations along the International Border and LoC with Pakistan” and that “these include suspected armed drones”.
In a report on 10 May, The Guardian noted that India’s missile attacks and Pakistan’s response marked “the most significant escalation so far in the brewing conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.”.
Ceasefire Announcement
On the evening of 10 May, a ceasefire was announced by US President Donald Trump, who wrote on his Truth Social platform: “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump’s announcement came after US State Secretary Marco Rubio spoke separately to Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, Pakistani Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Soon after Trump’s announcement, the ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was confirmed by Dar, who wrote: “Pakistan and India have agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect. Pakistan has always strived for peace and security in the region, without compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity!”
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also confirmed the same, saying his country and Pakistan would “stop all firing and military action on land, air, and sea” with effect from 5 pm IST, or 4:30 pm PKT.
In an X post, Jaishankar wrote, “India and Pakistan have today worked out an understanding on stoppage of firing and military action. India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so.”
Shortly afterwards, CNN reported, quoting an Indian source, that the ceasefire was “worked out ‘directly between’ India and Pakistan, despite US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the ceasefire was the result of a night of US mediation.” Misri and New Delhi’s Ministry of Information reiterated the same.
The ceasefire between the two countries has largely been upheld.
On 14 May, Trump urged India and Pakistan to “go out to dinner” together to resolve their disputes. “Following his statement, the State Department said Washington is now focused on encouraging direct communication between the two nuclear-armed neighbours,” reported Dawn.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the first image in the X post, Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on Google Lens, which led to a news article published by The Times of India on 21 May 2021. The news article, titled “IAF pilot dies in MiG-21 crash near Moga in Punjab, probe ordered,” contained the same image as that of the viral X post.
According to the article, a fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed near the Langeana Khurd village of Moga district in Punjab. The incident occurred during a routine flight when the aircraft took off from Suratgarh in Rajasthan and was en route to Halwara. It resulted in the death of Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary, and an investigation into the crash had been ordered, the report added.
Other leading Indian news outlets, including Hindustan Times, Business Standard, and The Indian Express, also published the same image of the crashed jet in their reports on the incident from May 2021, thus confirming that the picture is old.
These news reports further revealed that the crash occurred in open fields and no civilian casualties were reported. Authorities recovered the pilot’s body approximately two kilometers from the crash site, nearly four hours after the incident.
It is also important to note that the aircraft debris shown in the image does not resemble that of a Rafale jet. The MiG-21, with its distinct narrow fuselage and delta wings, differs significantly in appearance from the Rafale, which features twin engines, a wide body, and canard forewings. These visual discrepancies raise questions about the accuracy of the image.
Virality
The old image of the MiG-21 was falsely linked to the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan here, here, and here on Facebook and here on Instagram.
We News and Daily Times, also shared the image in their news articles.
It can also be seen here and here on X.
Conclusion: The image does not show a jet shot down by the Pakistan Air Force. The actual image is from 2021 and shows a MiG-21 fighter plane incident in India.
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Background image in cover photo: Associated Press
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