Pakistan destroyed Indian jets in hour-long air battle, prime minister claims
From CNN’s Sophia Saifi and Hira Humayun
People watch television in a restaurant as Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the nation, in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images
The Pakistan Air Force reduced Indian jets to “smithereens,” the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed, warning Pakistan would avenge the deaths of those killed by India’s strikes.
“In an hour-long air battle, our pilots blew up the jets of the enemy to smithereens,” he said in an address to the nation on state television Wednesday night local time.
He added: “It only took a few hours for the enemy to fall on its knees.”
Pakistan claimed earlier Wednesday to have shot down five Indian Air Force jets in retaliation for Indian strikes, including three elite French-made Rafales. Indian officials have yet to respond to the claim.
Referring to the 31 people Pakistan says were killed in India’s attack, he added: “The blood of these martyrs will be avenged.”
The prime minister said Pakistan has been among the countries most impacted by terrorism in the region, having lost tens of thousands of lives and suffering financial losses in the fight against it over the years.
Since the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, when gunmen killed 26 people — mostly Indian tourists — Pakistan has stressed its condemnation of terrorism and pushed back on Indian allegations that Pakistan was behind the massacre.