Pakistani pilot 'captured alive' by Afghanistan after jet shot down in Jalalabad
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistani pilot 'captured alive' by Afghanistan after jet shot down in Jalalabad")
A Taliban security personnel operates a rocket launcher near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 28, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Afghanistan has captured a Pakistani pilot after a jet went down in Jalalabad. Explosions were reported near the airport and Afghan officials claim the pilot was taken alive.
What happened? Scroll down to read more.
Afghanistan has captured a Pakistani pilot after a jet crashed in Jalalabad city on Saturday (Fev 28). Reports suggest that the pilot managed to escape the plane crash using a parachute but was captured alive by the Afghanistani military and police. This comes a day after Pakistani air strikes hit other Afghan cities.
According to AFP, two loud explosions were heard in eastern Afghanistan. According to an AFP journalist present on the scene, the blasts were heard from the direction of the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which sits on the road between Kabul and the Pakistani border.
Afghanistan confirms Pakistani pilot captured alive
"A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive," said Afghan police spokesman Tayeb Hammad. Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed the Pakistani jet was downed by Afghan forces, "and the pilot was captured alive".
Pakistan says Afghanistan's claims are “totally untrue”
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Islamabad's foreign ministry on Saturday said Afghanistan's military's claims of downing a Pakistani jet and capturing a pilot were "totally untrue". Talking to AFP, the Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said, "That's a false claim. Totally untrue".
The US had previously expressed diplomatic backing for Pakistan's stance, following Islamabad's declaration that it would continue strikes aimed at pressuring the Afghan government, which Pakistan alleges supports militancy. The Taliban government has, however, denied the allegation, and its spokesperson had earlier called for "dialogue" to resolve a previously simmering conflict that Pakistan's defence minister said on Friday was now "open war".
