By Rabia Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - A French intelligence official said Pakistan downed a Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force, according to a report Wednesday.
The official told CNN that French authorities were looking into whether more than one Rafale jet may also have been shot down overnight by Pakistan.
Pakistan said Wednesday that it shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three French-made Rafale, with Chinese-made J-10Cs aircraft.
The Pakistani military confirmed that at least 26 victims were killed and 46 injured in Indian missile strikes on its territory and cross-border firing along the Line of Control (LoC) -- the de facto border between the two countries.
The escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors comes in the wake of the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 victims were killed.
India blamed Pakistan for the attack, claiming there were cross-border links. Pakistan has denied involvement and offered a neutral probe with third-party monitoring.
Indian officials said New Delhi exercised its “right to respond and preempt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.”