Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh said on Saturday that Indian forces shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and a surveillance-type aircraft during four days of fighting with Pakistan in early May. Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Singh described the action as part of “Operation Sindoor” and called the 300-kilometre intercept of the larger aircraft the “largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill.” Singh attributed most of the claimed kills to India’s recently acquired Russian-made S-400 missile system and displayed before-and-after imagery of strikes on facilities linked to the militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. He added that additional Pakistani F-16s parked in hangars were damaged by airstrikes and credited clear political authorisation for the operation’s scope. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif rejected the account, saying no Pakistani aircraft were lost and challenging New Delhi to allow independent verification of both countries’ inventories. Islamabad maintains that it downed several Indian aircraft during the same clashes, a claim India disputes. U.S. officials have previously said they are unaware of any American-made F-16s in Pakistan being hit. The May 7-10 hostilities were the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades, involving cross-border shelling, drone attacks and limited air engagements before a cease-fire took hold. The sharply conflicting narratives over combat losses underline continuing tensions and the risk of miscalculation in South Asia.