2025 Indian-Pakistani Conflict: May 6-7
Editor’s Note: As with any live conflict, the details are being presented as claims from each side as they are being reported by both sides.
On the morning of 07 May 2025, India launched military strikes against Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack. India’s armed forces stated that they targeted nine sites “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed” in what they called “Operation Sindoor.”
India’s attacks struck sites in Kotli, Bahawalpur, Muridke, Bagh, and Muzarrafabad, demonstrating New Delhi’s willingness to militarily move beyond the disputed Kashmir region and strike at Pakistan’s major political and economic heartlands, notably Punjab.
The Pakistan Army’s press wing, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), stated that a “total of 24 impacts have been reported by India, with different weapons, in six localities.” However, ISPR stressed that eight civilians were killed and 35 injured as a result of those strikes.
Pakistan condemned the Indian strikes, and began carrying out retaliatory operations against the Indian armed forces.
Reports
The following are claims from both sides of the conflict. Quwa is reviewing video footage and photos provided by its network of OSINT contributors. This list will be updated once details are either officially verified or cross-checked by multiple third-party sources.
06 May 2025 | 8:01 PM EST | UNRELIABLE – FIRST-PARTY CLAIM
Pakistan’s state-owned news channel reports that a total of five IAF fighter aircraft were shot down, including three Dassault Rafale, a Mikoyan MiG-29, and a Sukhoi Su-30MKI.
In addition, Pakistan’s state-owned news channel, PTV, also claims that an Indian Army (IA) Brigade Headquarters was also destroyed.
Quwa reviewed footage that indicated that Pakistan launched a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and successfully intercepted an aerial target, but it cannot independently verify the nature of the downed target (which could range from a drone or airborne munition to a crewed fighter).
06 May 2025 | 8:30 PM EST | POSSIBLE
India’s NDTV reports that the Indian military conducted only one part of “Operation Sindoor”; additional operations are to be expected.
06 May 2025 | 8:31 PM EST | POSSIBLE
Third-party observer Trevor Ball examined a still from a video taken today of a crashed fighter aircraft. He identified an unfired MBDA MICA air-to-air missile (AAM), a munition used by the IAF but not the PAF. This could indicate the first confirmed kill of an IAF fighter aircraft, but the type has not been confirmed.
06 May 2025 | 8:51 PM EST | UNVERIFIED – FIRST-PARTY CLAIM
Local Indian news media outlets are claiming that the IAF shot down a PAF JF-17 Thunder. Again, as with the Pakistani claims, this claim has not yet been independently verified.
06 May 2025 | 9:26 PM EST | POSSIBLE
India Today reported that three aircraft crashed in Indian-administered Kashmir, but it stressed that Indian authorities have yet to confirm the origin of the aircraft. Reuters is also reporting that local government officials in Indian-administered Kashmir confirmed to it that three aircraft crashed in the region, but again, did not confirm the origin of the jets.
06 May 2025 | 11:57 PM EST | PROBABLE
Photos show the wreckage of a damaged external fuel tank ejected by a Rafale or Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft.
07 May 2025 | 6:43 AM EST | POSSIBLE
Video footage from civilians in India (Bathinda, Punjab) shows wreckage from a fallen aircraft. Observers have identified some similarities between the wreckage and the Safran M88 turbofan engine used to power the Dassault Rafale.
Additionally, British aviation journalist Alan Warnes acknowledges that that there is a video of M88 engine wreckage from India.
07 May 2025 | 12:20 PM EST | NEUTRAL ASSESSMENT
A French intelligence official confirmed to CNN that PAF downed one IAF Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft.
A high-ranking French intelligence official told CNN today that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan, in what would mark the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat.
CNN
08 May 2025 | 11:50 AM EST | NEUTRAL ASSESSMENT
CNN reports that a senior U.S. official confirmed that Pakistan shot down an Indian fighter aircraft, but it did not confirm the specific platform destroyed or weapons used for the downing.
08 May 2025 | 12:01 PM EST | NEUTRAL ASSESSMENT
Reuters reports that two U.S. officials told it that the PAF shot down at least two IAF fighter aircraft using, in all likelihood, the AVIC J-10CE.
