Old picture of crashed fighter jet falsely linked to Pakistan's border clash with Afghanistan

Published on October 17, 2025 at 08:57
2 min read
By Masroor GILANI, AFP Pakistan

An old photo of a crashed Pakistani fighter jet has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claim it shows an F-16 shot down during border clashes with Afghanistan's Taliban forces in October 2025. The picture first appeared in news reports about a jet that crashed during a training exercise in January 2020, and neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan have claimed a fighter jet was shot down in their cross-border skirmishes.

The picture of a crashed jet with the Pakistani flag printed on its wing was shared on X on October 12, 2025 with a caption that says it shows an F-16 shot down by the Taliban.

The image surfaced after Afghanistan's Taliban forces launched attacks on Pakistani troops along their shared border late on October 11, in what it called "retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul" two days prior (archived link).

Islamabad has not directly claimed responsibility for the strikes, but has repeatedly stated the right to defend itself against surging militancy that it says is planned from Afghan soil.

The Pakistani military claimed its troops killed more than 200 Taliban fighters during the clash, while a spokesperson for the Taliban claimed 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed.

Both sides agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire that came into effect on October 15, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed in fresh cross-border skirmishes earlier in the day (archived link).

Screenshot of the false X post captured on October 13, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same image was also shared elsewhere in similar X posts from India-based users.

But neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan have said a fighter jet was shot down.

A reverse image search on Google found a cropped version of the same photo was used in a report published by Pakistani news channel ARY News on January 7, 2020 (archived link).

"A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) trainer jet FT-7 has crashed near Punjab’s Mianwali district and two pilots lost their lives in the incident," the report says, citing confirmation from a PAF spokesperson.

It added the jet crashed "during a routine operational training mission near the Mianwali district".

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and the photo in the ARY report (right)

The article also included another photo showing the wreckage from a different angle.

Video licensing agency Newsflare also used a similar image as part of a clip showing the crash on the same day (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked other false claims about the Pakistani military.

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