Pakistan has claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets. A Pakistani military spokesman said three of them were French-made Rafales, one was a Russian-made Su-30 and the other was a MiG-29 fighter jet. The Su-30 and MiG-29 fighter jets were Soviet-made.

Amid rising tensions with Pakistan, it was reported late last month that India had signed a deal to buy 26 more Rafale fighter jets from France. The new 26 were expected to strengthen the country's Rafale fighter fleet, adding to the 36 it already has.

The 26 Rafale fighter jets are worth about $7.4 billion. New Delhi is buying these fighter jets from France as part of its efforts to rapidly modernize its military equipment.

The Rafale fighter jets, built by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation, are said to be operated from India's own aircraft carriers. The new Rafale fighter jets are also said to replace the Russian MiG-29s.

The Pakistani military said the five Indian warplanes were targeted after they took part in an attack on Pakistani soil.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that five Indian aircraft, several unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and some outposts along the Line of Control (LoC) were destroyed.

Tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have been high for some time now, and have now escalated into war. Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chowdhury said that India launched 'cowardly' missile strikes on Kotli, Bahawalpur, Muridke, Bagh and Muzaffarabad after midnight on Tuesday. The Pakistan army has already started retaliating.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chowdhury also said that at least eight people were killed and 35 injured in the Indian missile attack in Pakistan. He told the BBC that two children were among the dead.

Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reported, citing an Indian government statement, that the Indian armed forces have launched 'Operation Sindoor', under which nine installations in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Azad Kashmir have been attacked.

Although the Indian government claims that no Pakistani military installations were targeted in the operation, the Indian army said three people were killed in Pakistani shelling in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir.

The two countries have been embroiled in a war amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan since 26 people were killed in a gun attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on April 22.