Foreign countries asking for training with Pakistan Air Force: AVM Aurangzeb

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Aurangzeb Ahmed stated on Sunday that several foreign countries are asking for training with the PAF, reflecting the sophistication and professionalism of the force.

“The Pakistan Air Force is giving training to foreign countries; they are coming and asking in numbers that they want to come and have training with us. We have been invited to an international exercise. The kind of training we have is remarkable,” Aurangzeb said in a press conference.

It should be mentioned here that during the night of May 6 and May 7, Pakistan shot down five IAF fighter jets, including three Rafale, one Su-30 and one Mig-29.

He was flanked by Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Vice Admiral Raja Rab Nawaz and Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General (ISPR DG) Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry during the press conference.

Aurangzeb's answer came in reply to a question about the difference between the engagement of PAF and the Indian Air Force (IAF). "Was it J 10-C or something else," a reporter asked. 

On Pakistan’s response to Indian aggression, he said the PAF targeted the highest number of IAF airfields in a single mission since 1971. “We avoided civilian damage and hit with great accuracy,” he noted.

Crediting Chief of Air Staff Zaheer Ahmad Babar as the brains behind the operation, Aurangzeb said, “He gave us three tasks: restore deterrence, neutralise threats, and control the air.”

He revealed that in the first phase of the response, Pakistan targeted Indian Rafale jets, grounding the fleet near the western border. “This limited their options and freedom of action,” he added.

On drones being sent into Pakistan, Aurangzeb claimed that India had launched drone attacks on Pakistani civilian areas. However, Pakistan’s radar and jamming systems detected and disabled all drones, making them useless.

While offering details of Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, DG ISPR Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said 26 Indian military targets, as well as facilities that were used to target Pakistani citizens and those enterprises that were responsible for fomenting terrorism in Pakistan were engaged in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and the mainland. 

He said Suratgarh, Sirsa, Adampur, Bhuj, Nalia, Bathinda, Barnala, Harwara, Avantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Mamoon, Ambala, Udampur, and Pathankot were the targets, which sustained major damages, adding that the S-400 battery system at Adhampur and Bhuj was also attacked by the proud PAF.

He said the action was carefully calibrated to avoid civilian casualties and exclusively targeted those entities and facilities which were directly involved in orchestrating and executing cold-blooded killings of Pakistani civilians and those carrying out terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

“Pakistan also sustained an abnormal and immediate spike in Indian-sponsored terrorism across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan while we were busy in operations on the Eastern Front,” DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif said.

Expressing sympathy with the families of the shohada who sacrificed their lives for the beloved country, he prayed for the quick recovery of injured countrymen.

Further expressing profound appreciation and gratitude to the brave Pakistani nation, he said, “We are especially indebted to the youth of Pakistan who became frontline soldiers as information and cyber warriors of the country. Profound thanks are also due to you, the vibrant media of Pakistan, who also stood like a Bunyan-um-Marsoos, an iron wall against Indian media information blitz and fuming, as well as warmongering done by the Indian media. We are extremely grateful to the political leadership of all political parties, without any distinction, for the unified resolve in support of their Armed Forces for the defence of our motherland.”

DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif dismissed the rumours of a Indian female pilot in Pakistan’s custody. “This is all part of fake news and propaganda that has been generated from multiple sources, and it is social media chatter,” he said.

Vice Admiral Raja Rab Nawaz, while addressing the rumours about the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant being headed toward Karachi, said, “We tracked it closely from the start. On May 6-7, it was near Bombay, and by May 9, it came within 400 nautical miles of our coast, then turned back.”

Rab Nawaz explained that if the carrier had come closer, the Pakistan Navy was ready to respond. “Our maritime air arm was fully prepared, and we stayed in contact with the Air Force throughout,” he added.

“As a military officer, I don’t take the enemy lightly, but let’s be realistic. The Vikrant only carries 8-12 MiG-29s, enough for its own defence, not much more.”