New Delhi:  Indian Air Force sources on Friday confirmed that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was flying a MiG-21 Bison jet, did shoot down a Pakistani F-16, 7-8 km inside POK.

The IAF sources added that the Pakistan Air Force's radio communication intercepted by it confirms that one of the F-16s that attacked India on February 27 did not return to its base. IAF  further confirmed spotting ejections at two different places, separated by at least 8-10 km, on that day. One was an IAF MiG-21 Bison and other a PAF aircraft. The electronic signatures gathered by the IAF indicate that the PAF aircraft was an F-16.

The confirmation came after a leading US magazine questioned India's claim that one of its fighter jets shot down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 aircraft on February 27.

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Earlier today, a report citing unnamed US officials had claimed that all US-supplied fighter jets to the PAF have been counted and none is missing. The report in the American Foreign Policy journal had said: "Two senior US defence officials with direct knowledge of the situation talked about the recent count of F-16s and found none missing".

The report said, "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 US 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.”

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India had on February 27 claimed that the IAF has shot down a Pakistani F-16.  On February 28, the Indian Air Force had displayed pieces of the AMRAAM missile, fired by a Pakistani F-16, as proof to "conclusively" establish that Pakistan deployed F-16 fighter jets during the aerial raid. 

In the wake of Pulwama terror attack in which more 40 CRPF Jawans were martyred, India launched a counter-terror operation against a JeM training camp in Pakistan's Balakot. The Pakistan Air Force retaliated the next day and downed a MiG-21 in the aerial combat. It also captured Wing Commander Varthaman, who was handed over to India.