Pakistan has, for the first time, openly admitted that Indian strikes damaged its Nur Khan airbase during Operation Sindoor in May. The admission came during a year-end press briefing on December 27, when Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke about the incident.

Dar said that India carried out a large drone attack on Pakistan’s military targets over a 36-hour period. According to him, India launched more than 80 drones during this time. Pakistan claimed it intercepted 79 of them, but one drone managed to hit a military facility. He confirmed that the strike caused damage to the Nur Khan airbase and injured military personnel. 

The Nur Khan airbase, located in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala area, is one of Pakistan’s most important air force bases. It is situated close to Pakistan’s military headquarters and the capital, Islamabad, making it a highly sensitive and strategic location.

Dar’s statement marked a clear change from Pakistan’s earlier stand. Until now, Pakistani officials had either denied or downplayed the impact of Indian strikes on their military installations.

He also revealed that Pakistan’s political and military leaders, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, held an emergency meeting on the night of May 9 to review the situation and decide on further steps. Dar described India’s strike on the Nur Khan base in the early hours of May 10 as a “mistake,” pointing out the seriousness of targeting such a sensitive facility.

India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 in response to a terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, in which 26 civilians were killed. The operation began with attacks on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Later, the strikes expanded to include Pakistani military bases. India has said that 11 Pakistani air bases were targeted, including those in Sargodha, Rafiqui, Jacobabad and Muridke.

Reacting to Dar’s remarks, retired Indian Army Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon questioned Pakistan’s claim that the damage was minimal. He said that Pakistani media reports mentioned 138 gallantry awards given after the operation, which suggests that hundreds of people may have been killed. He also referred to videos shared online that allegedly show the Nur Khan airbase on fire.

Earlier, Pakistan’s leaders had hinted at the attack. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was informed about the Nur Khan strike by Army Chief General Asim Munir during the night of May 9–10. In July, Sharif’s adviser Rana Sanaullah said Pakistan had only 30 to 45 seconds to assess whether a missile heading towards Nur Khan was carrying a nuclear warhead, highlighting how close the situation came to escalation.

Dar also said Pakistan did not ask for mediation, but claimed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan contacted Islamabad and later helped broker a ceasefire on May 10. The four-day military standoff eventually ended with both sides agreeing to stop military action, showing how serious and dangerous the tensions between India and Pakistan had become.