The skies over the Durand Line are thick with smoke and rumor after a night of furious Pakistani airstrikes and a single, explosive question: did the Taliban just shoot down an F‑16 linked to Pakistan’s powerful General Munir — or is this a propaganda mirage?

Pakistani jets roared over eastern Afghanistan in what Islamabad calls a “precision campaign” against militant camps. Hours later, Taliban channels flooded social media with grainy clips of a fireball plunging from the sky and wreckage they claim belongs to a Pakistani F‑16. Crowds can be heard chanting victory slogans as fighters pose beside twisted metal and a scorched tail fin.

Islamabad is flatly denying the loss, insisting “all aircraft returned safely” and accusing the Taliban of recycling old footage. But an AI‑driven open‑source analysis, branded online as “Grok Says…”, has only fueled the fire: frame‑by‑frame enhancement of the videos suggests a modern fighter hit at medium altitude, and radio intercepts leaked by Afghan sources hint at a frantic rescue scramble on the Pakistani side.

Diplomats warn the truth matters less than perception. If Afghans believe they’ve bloodied Pakistan’s elite air arm, hard‑liners in Kabul will be emboldened. If Pakistan feels humiliated by a downing it can’t publicly admit, the pressure for a devastating second wave of strikes will soar.

For millions watching from phones and TV screens, the question remains unresolved — but one thing is unmistakable: a conflict once fought in shadows has burst into the open, and now even the wreckage in the mountains is being weaponized in the battle for narrative dominance.