December 29, 2025
NEW DELHI – Pakistan on Saturday officially acknowledged the impact of India’s strategic and precision strikes on its military installations during the escalation in May following Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, during a year-end press briefing yesterday, confirmed that India had targeted the Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi’s Chakala area, causing damage to the military facility and injuring personnel stationed there.
Dar said India had deployed multiple drones into Pakistani airspace within a short span, underscoring the scale and precision of the operation. “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,” the foreign minister claimed.
Detailing the developments during the crisis, Dar said Pakistan’s civil and military leadership, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, convened a meeting on the night of May 9 and “authorised” certain decisions in response to the evolving situation. He further stated that India “made the mistake” of attacking the Nur Khan Air Base in the early hours of May 10, implicitly acknowledging the damage caused by the strike.
Dar’s remarks amount to an admission of India’s strategic military actions against Pakistani installations in May, which followed Operation Sindoor.
Operation Sindoor: India’s precision strikes after Pahalgam terror attack
Indian Armed Forces had launched the Operation Sindoor targeting nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
It was launched in the early hours of May 7 as a retaliatory response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. The operation led to a sharp escalation between the two countries, including increased cross-border shelling from Pakistan and retaliatory strikes by Indian forces.
The situation later took a drastic turn when Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart to propose a ceasefire, which India accepted. The outreach from the Pakistani side was confirmed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who said both sides agreed to halt all military operations on land, at sea and in the air.
Satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies on May 13 showed significant damage to multiple Pakistani air bases, including Nur Khan Air Base. The images indicated damage at four facilities — Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi, PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha, Bholari Air Base, and PAF Base Shahbaz in Jacobabad. Comparative satellite images taken on April 25 and May 10, 2025, confirmed damage to airbase infrastructure, including at Nur Khan.