'Part of coordinated propaganda campaign': PIB debunks China Daily's claim of Indian jet crashes in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has debunked a report by China Daily that falsely claimed at least three Indian jets crashed in Kashmir. According to PIB fact check, the image used in the report is from a 2019 incident and not related to any recent event.The government’s fact-checking unit flagged the misinformation as part of a “coordinated propaganda campaign aimed at creating panic and misleading the public.” PIB also pointed out that the same image was originally published in a 2019 Al Jazeera report.In a post on X, PIB Fact Check said: “A news report by @ChinaDaily falsely claims that at least three Indian jets crashed in Kashmir. The image is from an earlier incident from 2019.”"This is part of a coordinated propaganda campaign aimed at creating panic and misleading the public," it said.Earlier, PIB debunked two major instances of misinformation circulating on social media, falsely claiming Pakistani attacks on Jammu Air Force Base and Gujarat's Hazira Port.The clarifications come amidst heightened tensions following Operation Sindoor, where India targeted nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), following which Pakistan tried to retaliate with a large-scale drone attack on Thursday.Pakistan-based social media handles have been trying to deliberately sabotage the narrative from the ground reality by launching intense misinformation campaigns amid these tensions.The PIB Fact Check unit debunked the claim that multiple explosions occurred at the Jammu Air Force Base, stating that the viral image accompanying the claim was traced back to the Kabul Airport blast in August 2021, not a recent event in India."An old image is being circulated with false claims of multiple explosions at the Jammu Air Force Base in India... This image is from the Kabul Airport blast in August 2021," PIB Fact Check stated, stamping the image with a "FAKE" label.The unit provided a link to a report from 2021 to substantiate its findings, urging the public not to fall for the misinformation.