Tensions continued to rise in the wake of the tragic attack on April 22, 2025, which killed 26 civilians (mainly tourists) and the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam near the Baisaran Valley in Kashmir. India An attack was launched against neighboring Pakistan. The Indian escalation is known as Operation Sindoor, which includes air and artillery attacks on internal Pakistani targets.
Indian attack prompts Pakistanboth sides claimed that the target was destroyed on the ground and the plane was shot down. In many cases, these are just claims, without factual evidence, although even cases supported by evidence require research, as certain images and videos published online have nothing to do with the ongoing events.
Thread: With India’s strike against Pakistan tonight, the error message is quickly spreading online. I’ll do a fact check in this thread for the virus to be false.
The video has been viewed over 160,000 times and shows an Israeli air strike in Gaza in October 2023. It has nothing to do with tonight’s strike. pic.twitter.com/oi5siexhhk
– Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) May 6, 2025
background
As mentioned earlier, on April 22, 26 civilians (mainly tourists) were killed in an attack on the Baisaran valley in Kashmir near Pahalgam. The Resistance Front, a branch of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but later withdrew the request.
India accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism, leading to diplomatic measures such as visa moratoriums and trade relations. Pakistan denies participation and calls for a neutral investigation.
Both countries conducted military posturing, including Pakistan’s May 3 test of ballistic missiles, which demonstrated operational readiness. On May 2, 2025, the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted Touch operation The 3.5 km extension of the Ganges Expressway in the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh offers a variety of frontline aircraft.
Shahjahanpur: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is flying on the Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh. The Air Force is conducting takeoff and landing exercises here.
IAF SU 30 also participated in this exercise pic.twitter.com/arya74gpuo– War and Gore (@goreunit) May 2, 2025
International players, including the United States and China, urged both sides to exercise restraint and engage in dialogue to prevent further escalation. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan has planned to take “responsive action” after India’s strike.
what happened
In the early morning of May 7, 2025 (local time), India launched a military strike against Pakistan’s targets. These “terror infrastructure” targeting nine locations in the densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-managed Kashmir, said at least 26 people were killed and 46 were injured.
India releases photos of horror camps in Pok & Bakistan and Pakistan under action sindoor https://t.co/HNMDownubk pic.twitter.com/6vsbsfyosr
– Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 7, 2025
“These steps were followed by the savage Pahargam terrorist attack, in which 25 Indians and a Nepali citizen were murdered,” the Indian Ministry of Defense said.
“Our actions have been centrally focused, measured and non-estimated. There are no military facilities targeting Pakistan. India has shown considerable limitations in selecting goals and implementing methods.”
India further stated that nine locations were targeted for strikes, while Pakistan said five locations were striken, including kotli, Muzaffarabad and Bagh in Arimit Kashmir in Pakistan, east Ahmedpur and Muridek in Punjab. Pakistan further stated that India used missiles during the strike.
Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told him: “Pakistan will respond at the time and location of its choice.” Geography TV. “This outrageous provocation will not be answered.”
Pakistan also rejected India’s statement on attacking terrorist sites. “India claims it attacked terrorist camps; this is incorrect and international media can visit the targets of civilians,” Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a statement.
“While the Indian Air Force remained in Indian airspace, the use of standoff weapons violated Pakistan’s sovereignty, targeting civilians on the international borders of Muridek and Bahawalpur, as well as the control line in Kotli and Mousafarabad,” a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
India reportedly hit the intake structure of a land combat dam on the Noseri Dam on the Nirum River in Pakistan, and both sides hit the shelling of the Naseri Dam in Pakistan, Kashmir and Pakistan killed at least eight people on the Indian side of the Kashmir Line of Control.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister claimed that five fighter jets operated by the Indian Air Force were knocked down and upgraded during last night’s missile attack, and all aircraft claimed to be shot down by Pakistan’s J-10C using PL-15 air-to-air missiles.
– Osintdefender (@SentDefender) May 7, 2025
Pakistan claims it shot down five Indian Air Force jets, including three gusts. India has not confirmed the losses, although images have so far shown the remains of the external fuel tank and the air-to-air missiles of mica are still on the launcher. The photos were reportedly captured about 20 kilometers from India’s Bachida Air Force Base.
❗️The wreckage of the Indian Air Force Rafale fighter was shot down in the Indian village Aklian Kalan area, 20 kilometers from the Bathinda Air Base.
Unactivated mica air-to-ground missiles and typical rainy day towers can be seen in the video. pic.twitter.com/7dj1ptlcdo
– MilitaryNewsua🇺🇦 (@front_ukrainian) May 7, 2025
These can be attributed to Mirage 2000 or gusts. Other unverified images appear to show the wreckage of the SNECMA M88 engine, although it would be controversial if these images were up to date and related to today’s events.
Normally I won’t get involved with this, but the extra angle of the mystery engine does look like it has a unique screw mode (PIC 1) on the nozzle, consistent with the M88, which is RAFALE (PIC 2) instead of the M53, not the Mirage 2000 (PIC 3)
Hmm https://t.co/ztrqv7uszc pic.twitter.com/zylncpnnqz
– Rick Joe (@rickjoe_pla) May 7, 2025
Some images appear to show debris from the Chinese-made PL-15E air-to-air missile. These weapons have recently been carried by Pakistani JF-17 and J-10CE fighters.
Confirmation: Pakistan used China’s long-range air-to-air missile PL-15E against India.
Part of the missile landed in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. Photos (first and second) are provided by Indian media.
The domestic version of PL-15 ranges from 200-300 kilometers, while… about 145 kilometers. pic.twitter.com/51yxeufrav
– Conflict Report (@ClashReport) May 7, 2025
The debris images on the mountain side are said to show the Russian-made K-36DM pop-up seat. The MIG-29 and SU-30 fighters use the model, both of which are used in India.
This ejection seat is @swiftretort1 It seems to be the K-36DM ejection mount found on the MIG-29 aircraft.
If the photos come from recent battles and battles in Ramban, it would confirm that the IAF lost another plane in the fight last night. https://t.co/m0mberupcw pic.twitter.com/zxa5ccifao
– Harmful Propaganda (@natsecboogie) May 7, 2025
New: A rafale aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force was knocked down by Pakistan, a senior French intelligence official told CNN, marking the first time a complex French-made fighter jet was lost in combat.
Pakistan earlier claimed… https://t.co/ixmulw1hxx
— Jim Scotto (@jimsciutto) May 7, 2025
Needless to say, the shooting also sparked online debate…
Even if India does not publicly acknowledge it with the same number, it is true pic.twitter.com/zwiglhi1rr
– زیااحsthim (@zakriyahmed13) May 7, 2025
Information warfare and zero trust mentality
Like the recent conflict, this latest skirmish once again underlines the importance of a zero-trust mentality, not only in terms of cybersecurity, but also in the real-time conflict zone. Both sides push the narrative of contradictions, release images of suspicious sources, and use social platforms to shape perceptions, observers must apply the same principle as zero trust: never assume, always verify. Each photo, video or claim shall be considered suspicious until verified by independent sources. In an era where propaganda is faster than missiles, filtering out misinformation is now as crucial as missile defense in understanding and dealing with modern warfare.
An IT security model should be used on social media: “zero trust”. In the Twitter context: No trust by default; everything should be constantly challenged. This does not apply to account dissemination information not only for credentials; it applies to all sources. https://t.co/uqqa4yjb6w
– David Cenciotti (@Cencio4) October 3, 2020
This is not the first time that the air battle between India and Pakistan has sparked a wave of unverified or conflicting claims. exist 2019 Balakot Small Conflictboth sides reported different versions of the incident, India claimed that the Mig-21 Bison shot down the Pakistani F-16 using the Vympel R-73 missile. To support its version, the Indian Air Force demonstrated part of the AIM-1220C5 Amraam missile, which is only compatible with Pakistan F-16, which is restored within Indian territory. However, no confirmed evidence of the F-16 shooting has been presented, and Pakistan denied the loss. The same engagement also saw confirmed losses from MIG-21 and occupied its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was quickly announced by Pakistan. Just like today’s events, open source images, official statements and unverifiable social media content confuses the images, indicating that narratives can vary depending on the source.
