Clip of Pakistan general saying country 'lost jets' is doctored

An old clip of Pakistan's military spokesman has been manipulated to make it appear he announced Islamabad lost three fighter jets during its recent conflict with India. The video shows Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudry talking about army intelligence operations in December 2024.

"Breaking News Pakistan confirms loss of 2 JF-17s to Indian SAMs -- 1 F-16 also SHOT DOWN," reads an English-language Facebook post on May 8, 2025.

The accompanying video appears to show Chaudry at a podium saying: "I regret to confirm that two J-F 17's aircraft were lost during active duty. This loss isn't just numbers for us, it represents a blow to our morale." 

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Screenshot of the false post, taken May 20, 2025

Similar posts sharing the video also surfaced elsewhere on Facebook and on TikTok in the days after India said it launched strikes against "terrorist camps" in Pakistan in retaliation for a deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad (archived link). Pakistan denies the accusation. 

The nuclear-armed rivals traded fire for four days before US President Donald Trump announced a truce on May 10. The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals' last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.

Pakistan has not said it lost military aircraft as of May 20.

Its military claims to have shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three advanced French Rafale aircraft, all of which were in Indian airspace at the time. India has not disclosed any losses.

Reverse image and keyword searches found the manipulated video -- where the spokesperson's lips can be seen glitching -- matches footage from a press conference in December 27, 2024 published by the Pakistan military's public relations wing ISPR (archived link).

"Security and anti-terrorism forces have conducted  59,775 intelligence-based operations of different categories," Chaudhry says in the presser. "During these successful operations 925 terrorists were killed."

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Screenshot comparison of false post (left) and the ISPR video of the press conference (right).

An analysis of the audio in the circulating clip using the voice cloning detection tool Hiya tool in the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, found it is "very likely AI-generated" (archived link).

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Screenshot of InVid audio detection test. Taken by AFP on May 13, 2025.

AFP has debunked misinformation surrounding the India-Pakistan conflict here.