On Tuesday night, the Pakistani security establishment and the citizens were found panic-stricken after there were rumours that Indian Air Force had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to fly over Karachi and other areas of Sindh.
The rumours got strengthened after there were also reports of Karachi city blackening out at the same time when sound of aircraft hovering on the port city could be heard by Karachi residents. A few local residents of Karachi had confirmed that the city was put under ‘blackout’. Rumours were after rumours of Indian Air Force fighter jets went close to Karachi and other parts of Sindh.
Following the scare, there were reports that, amidst the panic, the PAF had scrambled its fighter jets from Masroor airbase in response to Indian Air Force’s action along the LoC.
Indian Air Force had denied reports suggesting that their aircraft had crossed the Line of Control.
Hours later, there are unconfirmed reports emerging from the social media, that the Pakistan Air Force, amidst all the panic, had confused one of its own F-16 fighter aircraft for IAF fighter aircraft and shot it down.
Various social media users took to Twitter to state that one PAF F-16 fighter aircraft had not returned to Masroor airbase after it was sent to Combat Air Patrolling mission to detect and push back Indian fighter jets. The aviation experts alleged that Pakistan Air Force had shot down its own F-16 aircraft involved in CAP mission by mistaking it to Indian jets.
Another user posted an image speculating that Pakistan Air Force had shot down its F-16 using a missile.
Twitter user Arya Shreshtha claimed that there were speculations that Pakistan had shot down its F-16 aircraft last night and the Pakistan Air Force and China had also begun a search operation over the Arabian Sea.
However, both the Pakistan Air Force and the ISPR have maintained a radio silence over the incident and neither of them have publicly put out any statements about the incident of alleged shooting of one of its F-16 fighter jets. To summarise, there is no official confirmation or denial on this. We shall update the report once the Pakistan authorities issue a statement.
Panic in Pakistan over rumours of IAF jets crossing LoC
Earlier in the day, there were reports suggesting that panic gripped across Pakistan on Tuesday night after the Indian Air Force fighter jets had allegedly crossed the Line of Control and flew over Karachi, leading to authorities in Pakistan blacking out the city.
Various Pakistani social media users took to Twitter to express their fear over another Indian Air Force action inside Pakistan. According to the local residents of Karachi, the city was put under ‘blackout’ after rumours of Indian Air Force fighter jets went close to Karachi and other parts of Sindh.
The citizens of Pakistan had said their fear was similar to that of 27th Feb 2019 – the night of Balakot airstrike, after they heard PAF jets patrolling the sky, following the scare. The Indian Air Force had denied any such activity. In fact, there were reports that the Pakistanis had mistaken PAF aircrafts for IAF aircrafts.
