@harpy1
On social media, enthusiasts and experts are sharing photos and videos of wreckage from an Indian Air Force Rafale fighter jet, including a tail fin and engine nearby. Pakistan is said to have shot down the French-made plane in combat, presumably with a Chinese Chengdu J-10 multi-role fighter, a model known as the «Mighty Dragon,» and a PL-15E air-to-air missile.
For India, the operation – code-named "Sindoor" – appears to have turned into a disaster. Instead of being able to take out their targets quickly, unnoticed and without losses – as the Americans and Israelis have typically done – the Indian pilots faced fierce resistance. I
slamabad claims to have shot down a total of three Rafale fighters and two other Soviet-built jets, although these assertions have not been verified.
Evidence of what in fact happened has been plain for everyone to see. However, Delhi continues to deny the losses, and maintains that Operation Sindoor was a complete success. According to the government, the IAF used precise airstrikes to destroy training camps and weapons depots maintained by two Pakistani terrorist cells. India attributes responsibility to these groups for a mid-April attack in Kashmir that killed over two dozen tourists.