Bikaner, Aug. 26 -- The last recorded kill of the Indian Air Force's (IAF) legendary MiG-21 Bison fighter jet was a Pakistani F-16 in 2019, following the Balakot operations, when Pakistan tried to launch a counterattack after India carried out an aerial strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on February 26, targeting terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan.

Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman shot down the F-16 in aerial combat over Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir on February 27, 2019, a day after India's Balakot airstrike. However, Abhinandan's MiG-21 Bison was hit during the engagement, forcing him to eject over enemy-controlled territory.

The aircraft was also deployed in an 'operational' ro...