From CNN’s Nic Robertson in Islamabad
The “dog fight” between Pakistani and Indian fighter jets, which Pakistani officials say downed five Indian planes, was one of the “largest and longest in recent aviation history,” a senior Pakistani security source told CNN. A total of 125 fighter jets battled for over an hour, with neither side leaving its own airspace, according to the source who detailed that the missile exchanges were happening at distances sometimes greater than 160 kilometers (100 miles).
Neither side was prepared to send their pilots over the border because of a much smaller dogfight in 2019. An Indian Air Force pilot was shot down on Pakistani territory and paraded on TV before being returned to India. A humiliation, he said, neither side wanted this time.
At times, the Indian Air Force had to take multiple runs at targets, according to the source. Pakistan did its best to warn civilians in areas it believed to be potential targets, the source said, and that the military was able to minimize civilian casualties.
Source: cnn.com/world
