On February 27, Pakistan launched air and military strikes into Afghanistan, including on Kabul, Kandahar and Paktika, after a cross-border clash, and its defence minister declared an ‘open war.’
Islamabad said it was targeting militant hideouts; Afghanistan denounced the strikes as a violation of sovereignty, and both sides reported heavy casualties, including civilians, amid growing tensions.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which a destroyed fighter jet with Pakistan’s flag is seen engulfed in fire on the ground.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows the Taliban shooting down another of Pakistan’s American-made F-16 fighter jets.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “BIG BREAKING NEWS This is a Pakistani military F-16, American-made, that Afghan defensive forces have shot down.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is AI-generated.
We further found that the video was shared by an Afghan media organisation on its Facebook page on February 27, suggesting that it is of a Pakistani jet that crashed in Azra.
However, an F-16 fighter jet—officially the F-16 Fighting Falcon—is a single-engine, supersonic multirole combat aircraft built by Lockheed Martin for the US and many allied air forces. It’s agile, capable of both air-to-air combat and ground attack, flies faster than twice the speed of sound, and carries missiles, bombs, and a 20 mm cannon. Known for its bubble canopy and advanced flight controls, it's been one of the most widely used fighter jets since the late 1970s.
We found that a website, F-16.net, keeps track of any F-16 fighter jet across the globe. However, we found no reports of any of Pakistan's F-16s downed in Afghanistan.
We checked for the viral video and saw the number available on it. The number reads, “85510.” The F16.net database shows that the serial number “85510” belongs to a United States F-16 aircraft that crashed in Arizona in 1990.
We further observed the video and found that the overall lighting is inconsistent, with the fire providing a strong light source that does not realistically illuminate the nearby surfaces. Moreover, the flames and smoke appear somewhat blurred and lack the intricate detail and natural randomness typically seen in real fire. Even the number sees moving a bit.
All of which suggests that the video is AI-generated.
We further checked the video with AI-detection tool, SightEngine and Hive Moderation. While SightEngine suggests that the video is 80% AI-generated, Hive Moderation suggests that it is 78.5% AI-generated.
Afghanistan claimed it shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter during recent cross-border fighting, sharing a video of wreckage. Pakistan hasn’t confirmed any loss, and there’s no independent verification. Experts say Kabul lacks modern long-range air-defence systems needed to reliably down an F-16, though short-range weapons could pose some threat at low altitude.
