Several leaders from Pakistan's opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have alleged that a bombing campaign was being carried out by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday left several dead, with at least 20 bodies reportedly recovered from the rubble.
The fake picture, which is AI-generated, was shared across many social media platforms, and many Pakistani journalists had shared it, praising what they though was part of the global recognition of the country’s PAF in its defence and counter-attack capabilities.
Once the SpiceJet pilots identified themselves as a commercial airliner, the PAF fighters allowed it to continue its flight and escorted it till the flight entered Afghan airspace.
According to the Foreign Policy magazine, Pakistan invited the US to count its F-16 planes after the incident as part of an end-user agreement signed when the sale was finalised.
Pakistan had so far maintained that it had used JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft jointly developed with China during the dogfight with Indian warplanes on February 27.
