India Shot Down 5 Pakistani Jets, 1 Military Aircraft During Operation Sindoor: IAF Chief AP Singh

(MENAFN- Live Mint) India Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh confirmed on Saturday, August 9, that India shot down at least five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.

“...We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW &C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres,” Air Chief Marshal AP Singh was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

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He called it“the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about.”

While briefing on how Operation Sindoor was planned and executed, the IAF chief informed that Bholari , an AEW&C hangar, was attacked. "And here we have a very clear hint that there was an aircraft in sight when this attack took place...," he said.

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Air Chief Marshal AP Singh also hailed the S-400 air defence system nd said it did a "wonderful job" during Operation Sindoor.

Calling the S-400s a "game-changer", he said,“The range of that system has really kept their aircraft away from their weapons like, those long-range glide bombs that they have, they have not been able to use any one of those because they have not been able to penetrate the system.”

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IAF chief AP Singh said the conflict with Pakistan was a "high-tech war."

"In 80 to 90 hours of war , we were able to achieve so much damage that it was clear to them that if they continue, they are going to pay for it more and more. So they came forward and sent a message to our DGMO [Director General Military Operations]that they wanted to talk. This was accepted on our side...," the official said.

During the conflict with Pakistan after India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, the Centre had informed that Pakistan's DGMO contacted his Indian counterpart . The two sides had then agreed to halt all military actions, on land, at sea, and in the air, effective from 5 pm on May 10.

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India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attac in which 26 people were killed.

As per the operation, the Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

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After the attack, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmi as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across 11 airbases, including Nur Khan air base in Pakistan.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, 16 people have been killed due to Pakistani shelling, and 59 others have been injured.

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