{"id":107588,"date":"2025-07-07T11:55:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T06:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=107588"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:55:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T06:55:50","slug":"india-admits-rafale-pilot-deaths-under-pressure-as-honours-expose-cover-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/107588\/","title":{"rendered":"India admits Rafale pilot deaths under pressure as honours expose cover-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Web Desk(National Times)- After repeatedly denying any casualties, the Indian military has now indirectly acknowledged the deaths of several personnel, including Rafale fighter jet pilots, by announcing military honours for them, security sources told\u00a0<em>Geo News<\/em>\u00a0on Sunday. The move, reportedly taken under internal pressure, has lifted the lid on what was previously kept under wraps: India suffered heavy losses during Operation Sindoor. According to security sources, the Indian armed forces took a major hit in the operation, particularly along the Line of Control (LoC), where over 250 fatalities were reported.\u00a0 Despite this, the Indian government and military avoided publicly acknowledging the scale of damage until the announcement of honours brought the casualties into the open. Among those to be awarded posthumously are four Indian Air Force pilots, three of whom flew Rafale jets. The list also includes five operators of the S-400 air defence system who were killed at the Adampur Airbase, security officials say. Nine more personnel who lost their lives at the Udhampur Airbase, including members of its air defence unit, are also named for honours.\u00a0 In addition, two soldiers from the Rajouri aviation base and four others from the Uri supply depot, including its officer-in-charge, are reportedly being recognised. Security sources claim that families of the deceased have been asked not to share photos or tributes on social media, as authorities continue efforts to keep the losses out of the public eye. Critics are now asking: if there were no casualties, as the Indian government long claimed, why are these honours being handed out now? India has previously denied any major damage or loss of life during incidents at key installations like Pathankot and Udhampur.\u00a0 However, international media reports suggest that effective strikes from Pakistan forced India to agree to a ceasefire \u2014 a move that followed substantial military setbacks. Pakistan launched a large-scale retaliatory military action \u2014 Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos\u2014 and targeted several Indian military targets across multiple regions in response to New Delhi&#8217;s multiple unprovoked missile strikes on its soil. Pakistan downed six IAF fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States. According to ISPR, a total of 53 individuals, including 13 personnel of the armed forces and 40 civilians, were martyred in Indian strikes during the recent military confrontation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web Desk(National Times)- After repeatedly denying any casualties, the Indian military has now indirectly acknowledged the deaths of several personnel, including Rafale fighter jet pilots, by announcing military honours for them, security sources told\u00a0Geo News\u00a0on Sunday. The move, reportedly taken under internal pressure, has lifted the lid on what was previously kept under wraps: India [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>India admits Rafale pilot deaths under pressure as honours expose cover-up - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/107588\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"India admits Rafale pilot deaths under pressure as honours expose cover-up - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web Desk(National Times)- After repeatedly denying any casualties, the Indian military has now indirectly acknowledged the deaths of several personnel, including Rafale fighter jet pilots, by announcing military honours for them, security sources told\u00a0Geo News\u00a0on Sunday. 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