New Delhi, April 5: The Indian Air Force on Friday denied a US report claiming that none of the F-16 Fighting Falcon jets of the Pakistan Air Force was shot down in the February 27, 2019, dogfight. The IAF confirmed that the "electronic signatures gathered by us indicate PAF aircraft was an F-16."

In a statement, the Air Force said, "the Indian Forces have confirmed sighting ejections at two different places on that day. The two sightings were at places separated by at least 8-10 km. One was an IAF MiG 21 Bison and other a PAF aircraft. Electronic signatures gathered by us indicate that the PAF aircraft was a F-16."

The government had said that in the aerial combat on 27 February, a day after the Balakot air strikes, IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman engaged in a dogfight with a Pakistani fighter jet that tried to target the Indian military facilities and shot it down before he was hit and forced to eject. US Contradicts India's Claim of Shooting Down Pakistan's F-16 Fighter Jet, Finds No Warplane Missing: Reports.

"Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down Pakistan Air Force F-16 aircraft 7-8 km inside Pakistan Occupied Area in Sabzkot area there," said IAF sources. IAF sources also confirmed that radio communication of Pakistan Air Force intercepted by it confirms that one of the F-16s that attacked India on February 27 did not return to its base.

Earlier, Foreign Policy magazine said in a report that two senior US defence officials with direct knowledge of the situation said that "American personnel recently counted Islamabad's F-16s and found none missing." Pakistan's F-16 Hover Close to Indian Border Post Midnight, Retreat After IAF Scrambles Su-30MKIs & Mirage: Report.

"It is possible that in the heat of combat, Varthaman, flying a vintage MiG-21 Bison, got a lock on the Pakistani F-16, fired, and genuinely believed he scored a hit. But the count, conducted by U.S. authorities on the ground in Pakistan, sheds doubt on New Delhi's version of events, suggesting that Indian authorities may have misled the international community about what happened that day," said Foreign Policy.

The report comes just a few days before the April-May Lok Sabha Elections. The opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for using Balakot air strike, India's response to the Pulwama terror attack, in their campaign speeches.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2019 08:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).