Pro-Pakistan handles sharing old photos of air crashes: PIB FactCheck

New Delhi | India on Wednesday dismissed claims on Pakistan social media about 'Operation Sindoor', saying the neighbouring country has unleashed a "full-blown disinformation offensive" with "lies" and digital theatrics to control the narrative.

A series of posts by the Press Information Bureau's Fact-Checking Unit said pro-Pakistan social media handles were sharing old photos of crashes of IAF aircraft and claiming they were shot down by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor on Wednesday.

"Beware of old images shared by pro-Pakistan handles in the present context," PIB FactCheck said in a post on X.

"The video being shared is from February 2025 and depicts the crash of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 aircraft near Shivpuri, Gwalior, which occurred during a routine training mission," it said, referring to social media posts by pro-Pakistan handles about a fighter jet clash.

"Following India's decisive strike under 'Operation Sindoor', Pakistan has unleashed a full-blown disinformation offensive -- a desperate attempt to shift the focus and control the narrative with a barrage of lies and digital theatrics," officials said.

They said that pro-Pakistan social media handles and even influential political figures are deliberately spreading fake news, fabricating stories of miraculous military victories and heroic retaliation that simply do not exist.

"Their goal is clear -- to flood the information space with falsehoods so quickly and overwhelmingly that it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction. This is not just misinformation; it is a calculated, coordinated campaign designed to distort reality, mislead the public, and manipulate perceptions across the region," they said.

One viral post falsely claimed that the Pakistan Army had shot down an Indian Rafale jet near Bahawalpur.

The PIB Fact Check team found that the image was from a MiG-21 crash in Moga, Punjab, in 2021 and entirely unrelated to current events.

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also made a baseless claim that Indian soldiers were captured during the recent military strikes, a statement that was later debunked and retracted, officials said.