Pakistan on Monday admitted that the country's Air Force had used F-16 fighter jets against India in the aerial combat on February 27. Pakistan also said that Islamabad retains the right to use "anything and everything" in its self-defence. Pakistan had been denying the use of F 16 in the air raid. The shift in their stand came after an India Today expose.
Pakistan's military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor issued a statement with reference to what he said "repeated Indian claims" about shooting down of Pakistani F-16 and Islamabad's use of F-16 in the air battle on February 27.
He said, "As regard Pakistan Air Force (PAF) action for strikes across Line of Control, it was done by JF-17 from within Pakistan airspace," he said, claiming that two Indian jets crossed the Line of Control (LoC) which were shot down by the PAF.
However, he immediately said that it was immaterial to discuss whether it was F-16 or JF-17 which shot down the two Indian aircraft.
"Even if F-16 have been used as at that point in time complete PAF was airborne including F16s, the fact remains that Pakistan Airforce shot down two Indian jets in self-defence. India can assume any type of their choice even F-16. Pakistan retains the right to use anything and everything in its legitimate self-defence," the statement said.
He also rejected that any F-16 was destroyed by Indian Air Force in the dogfight.
India Today's Open-Source Intelligence team tracked down Wing-Commander Nauman Ali Khan whom Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had praised in the Pakistani assembly.
The findings revealed that Nauman Ali Khan is a career F-16 pilot. The probe established that Pakistan officially identified a pilot, who flew an F-16, for attacking Indian aircraft last month.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) on February 26 struck Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot. The Balakot airstrike came in response to the suicide attack which killed 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.
The attack was planned by Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
While India gave the proof of the use of the United States manufactured F-16s, Pakistan maintained that they were not part of the air raid.
"The event of February 27 is part of history now," Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
While Pakistan maintained that two Indian jets were shot down by Pakistan Air Force (PAF), it is noteworthy that Pakistan could only give evidence of one Indian MiG 21 being brought down that led to the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.
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