Pakistan’s military has rejected India’s allegations of cross-border drone and missile attacks, stating that it has only responded with small arms fire to Indian Artillery fire along the control line (LOC) and only against military targets.
In an interview with Turkiye Public Broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television World (TRT World), Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that India’s claims of Pakistani missile and drone attacks on three Indian military bases were “made” and not exceeded by evidence.
“Pakistan has not fired rockets, drones or missiles to Indian territory,” said Gen Chaudhry. “What we are doing is to respond with small arms fire on Indian military positions aimed at civilians all over Loc.”
He added, “India has created a media flash, a madness that claims aircraft, drone and missile attacks across the international border. It’s absolutely false. There is no electronic signature, no caught pilots and no evidence – only media narrative.”
DG ISPR reiterated that Pakistan engages Indian military positions as a defensive response to Indian shelling that he claimed has deliberately targeted civilian populations.
“These are not offensive operations. There has been no use of drones or missiles from Pakistan,” he said.
India accused Pakistan on Wednesday of attacking military bases with drones and missiles, a claim Pakistan has strongly denied. DG ISPR said that in today’s war, such attacks would leave electronic signatures and physical evidence, none of which has presented.
The general also responded to accusations of the recent attack on tourists in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and said the perpetrators remain unknown.
“We have not been shown any credible evidence connecting the attack to Pakistan,” he said. “India went away from the offer of an independent and neutral study.”
He also accused India of having used such incidents as political pretext. “India has a pattern to use terrorist incidents to justify aggression for domestic political purposes,” he said.
“After the Karzhan attack, instead of cooperation, India replied with strikes at six locations in Pakistan, including mosques and civilian places, resulting in deaths for children, women and the elderly,” he added.
On the question of potential financial consequences, including reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which underwent Pakistan’s $ 7 billion Bailout, exposed DG ISPR and said such issues fall into the domain of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Foreign Office.
Latest tension
The latest escalation in tension between India and Pakistan follows on April 22 -attack in Pahagam, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), resulting in 26 deaths. India immediately accused Pakistan-based elements of orchestration of the attack, although no evidence was presented. Islamabad has strongly rejected these claims.
By retaliation, India closed the Wagah Land border on April 23, the Indus Waters Treaty suspended and recalled Pakistani Visa. Pakistan responded by tagging any disturbance of the water flow as an “act of war” and closed the Wagah junction on its side.
The situation escalated further on Wednesday when reports from different cities in Pakistan, including Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Murideke and Bahawalpur, detailed more explosions. Pakistan’s military spokesman, LT Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, confirmed that Indian air strikes had targeted several locations in Pakistan. In response, Pakistan launched fast air and soil operations.
Within the first hour’s retaliation, Pakistan announced the downturn of five Indian fighter jets, including four Rafale aircraft that India had recently acquired from France to strengthen its air defense following the failed Balakot operation in 2019.
“Pakistan could have shot down 10 Indian fighter jets,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said during a press of briefing. “But Pakistan chose to exercise restraint.”
Despite the extent of the reaction, Indian media remained largely silent on the losses. Hindu, a prominent Indian newspaper, initially reported that three Indian jets had been discontinued, but later removed the article, probably under pressure from the Indian government to avoid further embarrassment.
An American commentator at CNN stated that the potential loss of Rafale jet aircraft would harm India’s claim of air superiority, as it had built around the induction of these advanced French warplanes. Some experts speculated that the confrontation served as a test of Chinese and Western military technologies, especially after Pakistan acquired the J-10C jet from China in response to India’s Rafale fleet.
A senior French intelligence officer confirmed to CNN that a Rafale jet had actually been shot down by Pakistan, which first marked this sophisticated French aircraft had been lost in battle.
In another development, the Pakistani armed forces confirmed the neutralization of 25 Israeli -made harrebrones used by India in recent cross -border activity.
A statement issued by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed on Thursday that these drones were shot down using both electronic countermeasures (Soft-Kill techniques) and conventional weapons (hard-kill systems) after being discovered flying across several areas over Pakistan.
ISPR described the drone penetration as a “desperate and paniced reaction” of India, which came after Pakistan’s retaliatory operations on May 6 and 7, where five Indian fighter jets were shut down and several military positions were beaten.
Untilized by the Israeli made armed drones, called “Loitering ammunition”, sent by India over several cities in Pakistan, including Karachi, residents of Metropolitan City are poured out onto the streets of an extraordinary wave of solidarity with the armed forces.
The number of Indian drones closed down by Pakistani armed forces had reached at least 77, confirmed security sources on Friday.
