Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif acknowledged in a rare and noteworthy public statement that early on May 10, 2025, Indian ballistic missiles hit the Nur Khan Airbase and a number of other key sites within Pakistan.
Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad, Sharif recalled getting a secure call at 2:30 AM from Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, who told him that India had fired its missiles, one of which had landed at the Nur Khan Airbase, a strategically significant installation that was previously targeted during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and is located between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Pakistan’s custom of rejecting Indian military attacks on its territory is broken by this extraordinary admission. Following the Pahalgam terror assault on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 Indian citizens, the Indian government unleashed a massive, well-coordinated military reaction on May 7 under the codename Operation Sindoor.
The campaign, which involved joint strikes by the Indian Air Force, Army, and Navy on airfields, radar stations, and communication hubs at a minimum of 11 locations, was intended to destroy terror infrastructure and strategic military assets throughout Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to Indian government sources.
The Pakistan Air Force bases at Chaklala (Nur Khan) and Sargodha were among the first targets struck in the early hours of May 10. Later, satellite data confirmed strikes at Jacobabad, Bholari, and Skardu. According to reports, 11 of Pakistan’s 13 main airbases were damaged and its air defense system was severely weakened when India launched about 15 BrahMos missiles and other precise weaponry.
Prior to launching the missile barrage, which also targeted hangars and vital military hardware, the Indian Air Force provoked and disabled Pakistani radars using pilotless target planes and kamikaze drones, compelling the Pakistan Air Force to move its assets to rear locations.
Pakistan launched several drone and missile attacks against Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as portions of Punjab and Gujarat, and reacted with artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC).
Additional Indian strikes against Pakistan’s radar and logistics infrastructure resulted from this escalation. The Strategic Plans Division in Rawalpindi was placed on maximum alert after Indian intelligence intercepted high-alert communications within Pakistani military networks. According to analysts, Pakistan was allegedly preparing for potential strikes on its nuclear command-and-control nodes.
Pakistan urgently requested US assistance amid concerns of unchecked escalation. At 15:35 IST on May 10, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Major General Kashif Abdullah, and his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, called one other after the United States recommended prompt communication through the official military hotline.
After this hotline call, both countries decided to stop all military activities on land, in the air, and at sea by the evening of May 10. In the hours that followed, however, Pakistani drones over Jammu and Kashmir and western Gujarat were still being tracked and intercepted by Indian radar systems.
India reiterated that the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which was implemented in reaction to the Pahalgam attack, would continue to be in place in spite of the ceasefire and accused Pakistan of breaking the ceasefire agreement.
Both sides have shown strong escalation control mechanisms even in high-stakes conflict, making the events surrounding Operation Sindoor one of the most intense and open instances of direct military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in recent history.
