Zahra YaraliDramatic footage is emerging from Indian Punjab's Bathinda region showing what appears to be the smouldering wreckage of an Indian Air Force jet, as Islamabad claims its pilots downed five Indian sophisticated fighter aircraft in an alarming escalation along the India-Pakistan frontier on Wednesday morning.
India has so far remained tight-lipped, offering no confirmation or denial.
The BBC's investigative unit, BBC Verify, has authenticated three separate videos that seem to show the aftermath of at least one crash.
All three clips are believed to have been filmed from the same field near Bathinda, a city in India's Punjab state.
In one video, Indian troops can be seen collecting metallic debris, including parts resembling the frame of a Rafale fighter jet — France's cutting-edge aircraft inducted into the Indian Air Force in recent years.
Two additional night-time clips from the same location show flaming debris and a projectile streaking across the sky before igniting a fire on the ground.
Pakistan says it downed at least five Indian jets, including three Rafales, in an hour-long battle that experts say involved some 30 Pakistani and 70 Indian fighter aircraft.
Lending weight to Pakistan's claim
Analysts say these scenes align with a mid-air strike or dogfight, lending weight to Pakistan's claims of having shot down multiple jets.
Justin Crump, a former British Army officer and head of the security firm Sibylline, told the BBC the fragments appear to include a French-made air-to-air missile compatible with both Rafale and Mirage 2000 jets, both of which India operates.
Another image circulating widely on social media shows a tail fin bearing the markings "BS001" and "Rafale."
BBC's checks, including a reverse image search, indicate the image is recent and not recycled from any previous incidents.
Broader regional conflict
What is known so far is fuelling intense scrutiny from global military observers.
Aerial encounters between advanced Pakistani fighter jets and India's French-built fighters offer rare real-world insights into the performance of modern combat aircraft, missiles, and pilots under pressure.
Two top ranked US officials told Reuters news agency that at least two Indian aircraft were likely brought down, marking what could be a milestone for Beijing's jet technology exported to Pakistan.
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri declined to confirm or deny whether any aircraft had been lost.
The situation in the subcontinent remains fluid, with calls on both India and Pakistan to avoid a broader regional conflict.
