PAKISTAN – After India’s Operation Sindoor inside Pakistan, Islamabad launched retaliatory strikes early Saturday against military installations in India in an operation dubbed “Operation Bunyan Un Marsous.” The Pakistani army said it destroyed a missile storage site in India’s Beas region.
“All those (Indian) air bases from where Pakistan was attacked (on May 6) are being attacked simultaneously,” state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported, citing military sources. “Pakistani drones are flying over Indian capital New Delhi,” it added.
It said the Pakistani army “is using its Al-Fatah missiles, named after Pakistani children killed in Indian military strikes on the intervening night of May 6 and 7” to strike India.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned an emergency meeting of the National Command Authority, which also deals with nuclear operations, later in the day.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Geo News that Pakistan launched the strikes as a “last resort” after India’s “continued escalations.”
“When and where will it stop, it all depends what India wants,” he added.
Cause of India-Pakistan Conflict
Tensions between the two arch rivals escalated following India’s announcement of “Operation Sindoor” late Tuesday, after New Delhi said it struck “terrorist infrastructure at nine sites” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The strikes came after an attack by unidentified gunmen on April 22 at a Pahalgam tourist site, which left 26 victims dead in India-administered Kashmir.
New Delhi said the attack had “cross-border links,” but Pakistan denied any involvement and offered a neutral probe with third-party monitoring.
After launching “Operation Sindoor,” New Delhi said it exercised its “right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks.”
Pakistan said 33 victims were killed in the Indian missile attacks and cross-border firing.
Dar said Pakistani forces neutralized around 80 Israel-made Harop drones fired by India in the last two days.
“Pakistan Air Force’s JF-17 Thunder hypersonic missiles destroyed India’s S-400 system in Adampur,” said PTV.
Earlier, Pakistan Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry in a midnight news conference said: “India fired missiles at Pakistan Air Force airbases, including the Noor Khan Airbase near the capital Islamabad, and “a majority of them were intercepted by Pakistan’s air defense systems.”
Pakistan has closed the country’s airspace.
Indian Flights Suspended
The Indian government announced the temporary closure Saturday of 32 airports across the northern and western parts of the country for all civil flight operations.
It said the Airports Authority of India extended the temporary closure of 25 segments of Air Traffic Service routes within New Delhi and the western metropolitan city of Mumbai due to operational reasons.
Omar Abdullah, the top elected official in Indian-administered Kashmir, said on X that one official in the Raj Kumar Thappa in Rajouri district was killed after his residence was “hit by shelling from Pakistan.”
“Pakistan launched an attack on 26 locations last night. After that India has carried out a retaliatory action,” said Indian-state run DD News.
“The Indian Army destroyed Pakistani posts and terrorist launch pads near Jammu, which were being used for launching tube-launched drones against India,” it added.
What India is Saying About Pakistan’s Operation Bunyan Un Marsous
In regards to the Pakistan’s Operation Bunyan Un Marsous, New Delhi on Saturday said that Pakistan had launched attacks on several Indian air bases with “high-speed” missiles as part of continued attacks on India’s western borders.
“Pakistani military (used) UCAV, drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions and fighter aircrafts to target civilian areas and military infrastructure,” Indian Air Force officer Vyomika Singh told a news conference in New Delhi with Vikram Misri, the foreign secretary.
“There were also several high-speed missile attacks noticed subsequently (during) night at several air bases in Punjab,” Singh added.
The statement came after Pakistan announced the launch of Operation Bunyan Un Marsous, or “Iron Wall,” firing Al-Fatah missiles in retaliation for New Delhi’s Operation Sindoor, launched by India inside Pakistan on Tuesday, which killed 33 people and injured 62, according to the Pakistani army.
“Limited damage was sustained to equipment and personnel at Indian Air Force stations at Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj,” said Indian Air Force officer Singh.
However, she said Pakistan targeted “civilian infrastructure … a medicare center and school premises” at the air bases of Srinagar, Awantipora, and Udhampur in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“In a swift and calibrated response, Indian armed forces carried out precision attacks only on identified (Pakistani) military targets … command and control centers, radar sites, and weapon storage areas,” she added.
Indian officials also denied that their S-400 air defense system, based in Adampur in the Punjab state, had been destroyed.
This is an “attempted misinformation campaign … India unequivocally rejects” it, said Misri, who was also joined by Col. Sofiya Qureshi.
The Indian officials said: “Pakistan military has been observed to be moving their troops into forward areas, indicating offensive intent to further escalate the situation.”
However, Singh said the Indian armed forces “reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is reciprocated by the Pakistan military.”
Jammu and Kashmir Border Attacks
Separately, the Indian army said in a brief statement Saturday that it had “conducted a coordinated fire assault on terrorist launchpads, pulverizing & razing them to cinders.”
“The terrorist launchpads,” it added, were “located close” to the Line of Control – the de facto border which divides Jammu and Kashmir into two units under control of India and Pakistan.
In Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, “a missile-like object landed deep inside Dal Lake,” the Press Trust of India reported.
There were loud explosions in the city on Saturday, it added.
