Hours after the Indian Air Force announced that it had hit, among several other military installations, the critical Pakistani airbases at Sargodha and Jacobabad that are closely associated with its nuclear strike capability, satellite images reveal precise hits and significant damage at these places.
Other Pakistani bases hit by the IAF include Rafiqui Airbase in Shorkot, Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi, Murid in Chakwal, Rahimyar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian, as well as radar sites at Pasrur and Sialkot. The airbases house Pakistan’s top-of-the-line fighter aircraft, drones, VIP transport facilities and command and control assets. Some of the places targeted operate aircraft hardwired to deliver nuclear weapons and may also have safe storage facilities.
These strikes were part of Operation Sindoor–a retaliation for the terror attack in Pahalgam–that began on May 7 and continued till a ceasefire was announced on the evening of May 10. Numerous strikes and counter-strikes by drones and missiles were witnessed.
“Post-strike damage assessment reveals damage to the runway at Sargodha airbase and the runway and VIP terminal at the dual-use Rahimyar Khan airport,” Col Vinayak Bhat (retd), an imagery interpretation expert who has analysed the post-attack satellite pictures on his X handle.
“The targets at Nur Khan and Murad Airbases were underground structures for command and control centres. Images also establish precise hits on the air defence radar installations at Pasrur, Chunian and Arifwala,” he said.
“The targets were strategic in nature and carefully selected so that a visible impression should be made and calibrated precise attack noted by Pakistan and the entire world,” he said. “They were destroyed by design and perfection to indicate India’s A1 intelligence about Pakistani facilities,” he added.
Though the Ministry of Defence has not revealed the IAF aircraft deployed for the cross-border strikes into Pakistan or the ordnance used, it is believed that the newly acquired Rafale multi-role fighter and long-range smart munitions like the SCALP and HAMMER were used. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is also speculated to have been used.
