The Pakistani government has acknowledged, for the first time in detail, the impact of India’s precision strikes on its military installation under Operation Sindoor in May, eight months after the four-day armed conflict between the two countries.
Pakistan has conceded that India’s precision strikes inflicted damage on a key military installation during the tense escalation in May following Operation Sindoor. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, during a year-end press briefing on Saturday, confirmed that Indian forces had targeted the Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala area. Dar admitted that the strike not only damaged the strategically significant military installation but also left personnel stationed there injured.
Addressing reporters, Dar revealed the scale of India’s military operation, stating that multiple drone incursions were launched into Pakistani territory within a remarkably short time frame. “They (India) send drones towards Pakistan. In 36 hours, at least 80 drones were sent… We were able to intercept 79 drones out of 80, and only one drone damaged a military installation and personnel were also injured in the attack,” he claimed, according to news agency ANI.
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The foreign minister went on to describe the rapid sequence of events that unfolded in the aftermath of the strikes, saying Pakistan’s civil and military leadership, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, convened an emergency meeting on the night of May 9 as the situation escalated.
Dar further acknowledged the strike’s impact by remarking that India “made the mistake” of attacking the Nur Khan Air Base in the early hours of May 10.
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The strikes followed Operation Sindoor, launched by the Indian Armed Forces to destroy nine terror camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The operation was a direct retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.
The Pakistan Air Force’s Nur Khan Air Base in Chaklala reportedly suffered significant damage during the Indian precision strikes, which were carried out in the early hours of May 7. The escalation that followed saw intense cross-border shelling by Pakistani forces and swift retaliatory action by India.
The standoff later took an unexpected diplomatic turn when Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations reached out to his Indian counterpart to propose a ceasefire – an offer New Delhi accepted. The development was later confirmed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who stated that both sides had agreed to halt all military operations on land, at sea and in the air.
Pakistani air bases suffered damage
Satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies on May 13 revealed extensive damage to multiple Pakistani air bases, including Nur Khan Air Base. The images showed damage across four installations — Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi, PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha, Bholari Air Base, and PAF Base Shahbaz in Jacobabad. A comparison of satellite images captured on April 25 and May 10 clearly corroborated the precision strikes.
This was not the first time a senior Pakistani leader acknowledged the attack on Nur Khan Air Base. Earlier in May, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself admitted that Indian ballistic missiles had struck the base and other locations — a rare break from Islamabad’s usual denial.
Addressing a ceremony at the Pakistan Monument on May 16, Sharif said, “At around 2:30 am on May 10, General Syed Asim Munir called me on a secure line and informed me that India’s ballistic missiles had hit Nur Khan Airbase and other areas. Our Air Force used homegrown technology to save our country, and they even used modern gadgets and technology on Chinese jets,” Geo News reported.