ISPR substantiates its stance on F-16 with more evidence

DG ISPR says all four missile seeker heads recovered from wreckage of downed Indian Mig-21 still intact

Hours after US defence officials confirmed none of the F-16 jets in the Pakistani Air Force fleet was missing, the chief spokesperson of Pakistan Army on Friday further tore apart Indian claims of downing a PAF fighter jet in the February dogfight.

All four missile seeker heads recovered from wreckage of downed Indian Mig-21 are still intact and held by the security forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general said in a statement on Twitter.

“Pakistan and its professional Armed Forces staying humble by not drum beating,” said the ISPR head, adding that, “We have more truth on this to share.”

IAF claim of hitting F-16 by their Mig 21 before having been shot down by PAF gets exposed. All 4 missile seeker heads recovered intact from the wreckage & held. Pakistan and its professional Armed Forces staying humble by not drum beating. We have more truth on this to share. pic.twitter.com/jOklFU7GDJ

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) April 5, 2019

The Indian claims of shooting down a PAF F-16 on February 27 were debunked by US officials as all aircraft are accounted for, Foreign Policy reported earlier in the day.

Pakistan invited US officials to physically count the F-16 planes after the incident. Some of the aircraft were not immediately available for inspection due to the conflict, so it took US personnel several weeks to account for all of the jets, one of the officials said.



The report added that two US defence officials with direct knowledge of the matter said US personnel had done a count of Pakistan’s F-16s and found none missing.

Earlier in the day, Maj-Gen Ghafoor had said that Pakistan stands vindicated after the FP report. He also urged India to introspect over the human rights violations by its forces in the occupied valley.

“Allah is praised, truth always prevails. Time for India to speak the truth about false claims & actual losses on their side, including the second aircraft shot down by Pakistan. India needs introspection especially over atrocities in IoK. The region needs peace, progress & prosperity,” he wrote on the microblogging site Twitter.

Allah be praised, truth always prevails. Time for India to speak truth about false claims & actual losses on their side including the second aircraft shot down by Pakistan. India needs introspection especially over atrocities in IOK. Region needs peace, progress & prosperity. https://t.co/5eCsQDSDYD

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) April 5, 2019

The US endorsement of Pakistan’s version will add insult to injury as the earlier Indian claim of decimating the “largest terrorist training camp” in the Balakot area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has already fallen flat.



Pakistani warplanes shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) jets – including a Russian-made MiG 21 – and arrested one of the pilots in the battle that took place a day after Indian aircraft brazenly violated Pakistan’s airspace and dropped a payload on a densely forested mountain in Balakot.

At the time New Delhi boasted that the ‘air strike’ had targeted the “largest training camp of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant group” causing “a large number of casualties”. Pakistani and international media and experts have already debunked the Indian claim as no infrastructure was damaged nor any casualty was caused in the incident.