On Wednesday, three Indian fighter jets crashed in the volatile region of Jammu and Kashmir, hours after India conducted airstrikes on what it described as terrorist infrastructure across the border in Pakistan, according to four local government sources cited by Reuters. The Pakistani military, in a bold counterclaim, asserted that its forces shot down five Indian aircraft, a statement that remains unconfirmed by Indian authorities.

Social media posts on X, drawing from open-source intelligence [OSINT], noted French-language markings on debris from the downed jets, fueling speculation that the aircraft could be India’s French-made Rafale or Mirage 2000 fighters, though no official confirmation has identified the models.

The incident marks a dangerous escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, raising fears of a broader conflict in a region long plagued by territorial disputes.

The crashes followed India’s military operation, which targeted nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a response to a deadly terrorist attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, that killed 26 tourists, including 25 Indian nationals and one Nepalese citizen.

India attributed the attack to the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, accusing Islamabad of harboring terrorists. Pakistan’s claim of downing five Indian jets, including three Rafales, one MiG-29, and one Su-30, as reported by CNN, has intensified the rhetoric, with Pakistani officials describing the Indian strikes as an “act of war.”

India has not officially commented on the number of aircraft lost or the cause of the crashes, though an Indian official told Reuters that one jet had crashed in Indian-administered Kashmir, with the pilot hospitalized.

The roots of this latest flare-up trace back to the Pahalgam attack, which marked the deadliest terrorist incident in Indian territory since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. India’s response was swift, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imposing diplomatic and economic measures, including closing borders, halting imports, and expelling Pakistani diplomats.

Pakistan retaliated with missile tests and naval drills in the Arabian Sea, while skirmishes along the Line of Control [LoC], the de facto border in Kashmir, escalated. The deployment of India’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to the Arabian Sea and Pakistan’s mobilization of air and ground forces signaled a rapid militarization of the dispute.

The Indian Air Force [IAF] had planned a high-intensity exercise near the Pakistan border on Wednesday and Thursday, involving Rafale, Mirage 2000, and Sukhoi Su-30 jets, according to The Economic Times, a move that may have set the stage for the aerial incidents.