ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Afghan social media accounts and some Afghan outlets circulated claims that a Pakistani fighter jet was shot down over Nangarhar and that the pilot was captured alive, but Pakistani authorities issued a categorical denial, and the viral posts and visuals that drove the story were later removed or deleted by several accounts.
The claim gained traction after Afghan officials and Afghan media-linked reporting suggested an aircraft came down in or near Jalalabad. International coverage also noted that TOLOnews was reporting that a Pakistani jet had been shot down in Nangarhar, adding momentum to the allegation as it spread across X and other platforms.
Pakistan’s government rejected the report. The information ministry described the claim as false and said no aircraft of the Pakistan Armed Forces had been shot down and no pilot was missing or captured, according to international reporting that cited Pakistani authorities.
As the story circulated, pro-Afghan accounts shared videos and images of burning wreckage carrying a Pakistani flag and a tail number “85510”, presenting the material as proof that an F-16 had been downed. The visuals became central to the claim, but were later challenged by verification reporting.
The iVerify fact check said the viral visuals did not withstand scrutiny, citing technical inconsistencies and indicators of editing that undercut the assertion that the footage showed a Pakistani F-16 shot down during the clashes. Other reporting also questioned whether the airframe visible in the images matched an F-16.
The online trail became part of the episode. Multiple accounts that had amplified the claim were observed deleting or removing posts after fact-check scrutiny and pushback, leaving the allegation without a stable public record beyond reposts and screenshots.
