Viral ABN News clip reports India shot down PAF JF-17 jet in Bahawalpur during May 2025 conflict

RATING JUSTIFICATION

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan reviewed the viral clip of Pakistani media outlet ABN News and examined its audio and on-screen text.

Multiple Indian accounts on social media platform X on December 10, 2025, shared a clip from ABN News, claiming it proved that India’s S-400 system shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) JF-17 jet during the May 2025 conflict between the two countries. However, the video reported nothing of the sort.

Earlier in May, Pakistan and India came face to face in a four-day conflict. The PAF shot down Indian fighter jets on the night of May 6-7 in response to the Indian Air Force’s late-night missile strikes at six Pakistani sites, including Subhan Mosque in Bahawalpur’s Ahmedpur East, Bilal Mosque in Muzaffarabad, Abbas Mosque in Kotli, Umalkura Mosque in Muridke, the village of Kotki Lohara in Sialkot district, and Shakargarh.

Pakistan took down six Indian jets, including three advanced French Rafale planes. According to a Dawn report, three Rafales, one Su-30MKI, one Mirage 2000 and one MiG-29 were downed within 40 minutes. Not one Pakistani jet crossed the border or engaged in close combat.

HOW IT STARTED

On December 10, 2025, an Indian user on X shared a clip of ABN News with the following caption: “For all the ‘Lahori Churans’ asking where the seven Pakistani fighter jets are that the IAF shot down during Operation Sindoor, your own news channels reported jets downed inside Pakistan. Those were PAF jets.”

The post gained 68,000 views.

Another Indian account shared the same clip with a detailed claim involving S-400 missile ranges and radar parameters, asserting it was the “first proof of JF-17 shot down on May 7th in Bahawalpur”.

The post received 46,300 views.

The clip and claim were subsequently shared by several Indian accounts, as can be seen here, here and here.

It must be noted that the posts shared a very low-quality and blurry version of the video that made it difficult to discern the text.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the Pakistan-India conflict earlier this year.

Examining the news bulletin showed that it reported nothing similar to what was being claimed by the Indian accounts in the captions.

The transcription of what the correspondent says in the video is reproduced below:

“Cowardly India has targeted three locations in Pakistan: Muzaffarabad, Kotli and Bahawalpur. In response, the brave Shaheen of the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian Rafale aircraft near Bahawalpur, and heavy artillery fire is continuing as part of the ongoing retaliatory action.”

The transcription shows that the correspondent was reporting on the downing of an IAF jet near Bahawalpur, a city close to the Pakistan-India border.

Furthermore, the text in the breaking news box in the video reads: “India has carried out missile attacks on three locations inside Pakistan. India will be given a fitting response, says DG ISPR.”

This again bears no connection to claims of a JF-17 being downed by the IAF.

The above was further confirmed by tracing the original video clip shared by ABN News’ parent company Ausaf Digital on Instagram, dated May 7, 2025 — the first day of the Pakistan-India conflict.

A keyword search to corroborate the claim also yielded no other news or video reports from Pakistani media outlets on a PAF jet being downed by India. Nor was any such incident reported by credible mainstream international news outlets in their reporting on the conflict.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that an ABN News clip proves India shot down a Pakistani JF-17 in Bahawalpur during the May 2025 conflict between the two countries is false.

The clip instead reports the exact opposite about an Indian jet being shot down. Furthermore, there is no credence or evidence for a PAF jet being downed by India during the conflict.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES

May 7, 2025, Ausaf Digital Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJU7yBMth7x/