Soon after Foreign Policy published a report stating US defence officials had contradicted the Indian claim of shooting down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 jet on February 27, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Friday issued more ‘proof’ to support Pakistan’s position on the matter.
ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor revealed on Twitter that Pakistan has been in possession of the remains of all four missiles carried by the Indian MiG-21 Bison which crashed in Pakistani territory after the Feb 27 dogfight. He stated that the ‘seeker heads’ of all four missiles were intact, implying that they were never fired. “All 4 missile seeker heads recovered intact from the wreckage & held,” Maj Gen Ghafoor posted on his Twitter handle.
Major General Ghafoor said the Pakistan’s professional armed forces have been staying humble by not beating the drums for their echoing victory over Indian Air Force during a dogfight between the two air forces in February. He, however, said that Pakistani military has ‘more truth’ to share in order to debunk Indian claims of downing a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet. The ISPR DG said 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 posted on Twitter.