Information war: Are India and Pakistan telling the truth about attacks?

As Indian attacks on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir early on May 7 pulled the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of a potential military conflict, a parallel war quickly broke out – over information.
Within hours of the Indian strikes, authorities on both sides put out claims and counterclaims that have been amplified on social media as each country tries to control the narrative in its favour.
Five Indian jets were downed, Pakistan said, for instance. India has yet to respond to the claim, but Indian officials who requested anonymity said three jets had crashed in India-administered Kashmir but did not confirm whether they were Indian or Pakistani planes.
An Al Jazeera analysis look at what both India and Pakistan have claimed so far – and how they have a history of competing narratives that often allow them to each assert wins over the other to their respective domestic audiences while making independent verification of the truth harder.
India said its forces hit “terrorist infrastructure” at nine sites in response to last month’s deadly shooting attack in Pahalgam in India-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. Islamabad denied the charges and asked India to provide evidence to back up its claims.
Pakistan said Indian forces on Wednesday hit six cities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir and a health centre.
Pakistan said 31 civilians were killed, including a three-year-old girl.
But Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said his forces did not harm civilians. In a news briefing, Indian air force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said the strikes led to “no collateral damage” and had been conducted through “precision capability”.
The Pakistani government on its official X account said Indian soldiers raised a white flag, a common symbol of surrender, at a military post along the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides India-administered and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pakistani Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar echoed the claim on his X account, posting: “First they fled from the investigation, now they fled from the field.”
Indian authorities have yet to formally address the claim, but as India and Pakistan are not officially at war, it is unclear why New Delhi might feel the need to surrender.
Pakistan military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian jets had been downed, all within Indian territory, with planes from neither side crossing into the other’s airspace.