In a significant and rare admission, a senior Pakistani official has publicly confirmed that Indian precision strikes caused damage to a key military installation within Pakistan's territory earlier this year. The acknowledgment marks a departure from Islamabad's typical stance of denying cross-border military actions by India.
Top Official Details Scale of Indian Operation
Pakistan's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Ishaq Dar, made the revelation during a year-end press briefing on Saturday. Dar stated that India targeted the Nur Khan Air Base located in Rawalpindi's Chaklala area. He confirmed the strike resulted in damage to the military facility and injuries to personnel stationed there.
Detailing the scale of the operation, Dar claimed India launched multiple drone incursions. "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 told reporters, according to the ANI news agency.
Sequence of Events and Emergency Response
The foreign minister outlined the sequence of events, noting that India "made the mistake" of attacking the air base in the early hours of May 10. He described how Pakistan's civil and military leadership, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, convened an emergency meeting on the night of May 9 to formulate a response to the escalating situation.
These strikes were a direct consequence of Operation Sindoor, launched by the Indian Armed Forces. India initiated this operation in the early hours of May 7 as a retaliatory measure for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians. The operation targeted nine terror camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Satellite Evidence and Earlier Admissions
The damage was later visually corroborated. Satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies on May 13 showed clear signs of significant damage at multiple Pakistani air bases. A comparison of images from April 25 and May 10 confirmed impacts at four installations:
- Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi
- PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha
- Bholari Air Base
- PAF Base Shahbaz in Jacobabad
This is not the first time a Pakistani leader has acknowledged the attack. In May, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself admitted that Indian ballistic missiles had struck the Nur Khan base. He revealed that Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir informed him of the hit around 2:30 am on May 10.
The period of escalation saw increased cross-border shelling from Pakistan, met with retaliatory action by Indian forces. The situation de-escalated after Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations contacted his Indian counterpart to propose a ceasefire, which India accepted. This outreach was later confirmed by India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, stating both sides agreed to halt all military operations on land, at sea, and in the air.
