INDIA, Aug 9: India’s air force chief says the country shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during fierce cross-border clashes in May, marking the first official confirmation of the scale of Pakistan’s aerial losses in the conflict.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said on Saturday that India’s S-400 air defence systems were responsible for most of the kills during the May 7–10 fighting, which saw the heaviest air battles between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.
“We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft,” Singh said during a military lecture in Bengaluru. The large aircraft, believed to be a surveillance plane, was destroyed at a distance of 300 km (186 miles) – a strike he described as “the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill” India has achieved.
Singh also said Indian air strikes damaged another surveillance plane and “a few F-16” fighters parked in hangars at two airbases in southeastern Pakistan, including Shahbaz Jacobabad airbase in Sindh province, where half of an F-16 hangar was destroyed.
Pakistan, whose air force relies on Chinese-made jets and US-supplied F-16s, has previously denied losing any aircraft in the clashes. During the conflict, Islamabad claimed it had shot down six Indian military jets, including three Rafale fighters – an assertion Indian officials have dismissed as “absolutely incorrect.”
The fighting erupted after an April 22 attack in Pahalgam, in India-administered Kashmir, killed 26 tourists. The clashes involved fighter jets, cruise missiles, and heavy artillery, leaving dozens dead.
Kashmir remains a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, both of which claim the territory in full but control it in part. Armed groups in the India-administered region have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of backing some of these groups, while Islamabad says it offers only diplomatic support to Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.
Although the two countries declared a ceasefire in May, sporadic violence continues. On Friday night, two Indian soldiers and a suspected fighter were killed in a clash in Kulgam district, according to Indian military officials. Two other soldiers were injured.