Early morning missile attacks from India prompted a retaliatory response from Pakistan, which has termed its new operation against its neighbouring country as ‘Bunyan-un- Marsoos’, according to state-run PTV on Saturday.
At around 3:30am on Saturday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that India has targeted the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) Nur Khan (Chaklala, Rawalpindi), Murid (Chakwal) and Rafiqui (Shorkot in Jhang district) air bases, adding that all assets of the air force remained safe.
While speaking at a press conference, he said that India was “pushing the whole region towards a dangerous war with its madness, aggression and deceit”. The DG ISPR also said that India had fired missiles at Afghanistan and used drones to conduct attacks as well.
The military spokesperson said that “the majority” of Indian missiles fired at PAF’s airbases have been intercepted by air defence systems of the armed forces.
He noted that the few Indian missiles that were not intercepted and “sneaked in” have “not been able to cause any damage” to PAF’s flying assets as per the initial damage assessment reports.
The DG ISPR said that the air defence systems of the armed forces have been able to “successfully prevent the desired objectives of India”.
He said the missiles and drone attacks by India on Afghanistan shortly after attacks on the territory of Indian Punjab were “part of a larger sinister plan to push the region and beyond into havoc”.
The DG ISPR said that the PAF has the electronic signatures of all Indian missiles, including “from where they were initiated and what was targeted”.
The military’s chief spokesperson assured the nation that the armed forces are “vigilant and thwarting all these cowardly acts of aggression by Indians”.
“These blatant acts of aggression by India actually reflect the paranoia within Indian mindset which continues to grow after failure of each of this act and the paranoia continues to also grow once it realises that they cannot break the resolve and will of the people of Pakistan which actually strengthens and further grows with each such cowardly act.”
He further said that this “growing frustration and paranoia” of the Indians would be “further compounded”.
At 4:38am, state-run PTV News said that the Pakistani military had launched its counter-attack against Indian aggression.
At 5:52am, PTV News and Radio Pakistan said that the Pakistani military has destroyed a storage site of the Brahmos missiles in India’s Beas region as part of its retaliatory operation ‘Bunyan-un-Marsoos’.
In a statement, they reported that attacks were ongoing at more places in India.
The statement added that an air base in Udhampur and an airfield in Pathankot were also destroyed.
Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan also confirmed that Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos has been launched against the “enemy”.
“Long live Pakistan — May Allah protect our falcons,” the minister said in a post on X.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that Pakistan had responded with precision and strategic integrity by targeting only Indian military targets tonight.
“In tonight’s unprovoked attack by India once again, civilian populations have been indiscriminately attacked in Pakistan,” Rehman said. “This is the clear difference.”
At 6:13am, PTV News said in a video update that the storage site of the Brahmos was destroyed.
At 6:50am IST (6:20am PKT), The Times of India reported that explosion-like sounds were heard in Punjab’s Pathankot district early on Saturday morning,
“The blasts, reported around 5am, however, have not yet been officially acknowledged by authorities. A blackout was enforced in Pathankot on Friday night, with officials urging residents to remain indoors as a precautionary measure,” it said.
PTV News said at 6:29am that Pakistani drones were active in the skies of India’s capital New Delhi.
Soon after, the government said on X that Pakistan had targeted key Indian military installations in a “befitting response” as part of its retaliatory operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos’.
“These actions are being carried out in response to India’s initial attack, which was an assault on our homeland, people and sovereignty,” the statement said, referring to Indian missile strikes against the PAF’s three airbases.
PTV News further reported at 7:13am that PAF’s JF-17 Thunder’s hypersonic missiles have destroyed India’s S-400 system in Adampur. It added that the S-400 air defence system is worth approximately $1.5 billion.
PTV News also said that most Indian websites, including the BJP’s official website and the Border Security Forces (BSF), have been hacked as Pakistan’s counterattack continues.
Other hacked websites included the Crime Research Investigation Agency, the Mahanagar Telecommunication Company Limited, the Bharat Earth Movers Limited, All India Naval Technical Supervisory Staff Association, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Unique Identification Authority of India.
“Data leaked sites include Indian Air Force, Maharashtra Election Commission and others,” the statement added. “In addition, more than 2,500 surveillance cameras have also been hacked.”
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar spoke to Geo News around 7am and said that Pakistan is operating on the defensive and had no choice but to retaliate to India’s military actions.
“The tamasha [circus] that India has done in the past three days, we will not let India claim hegemony. The Pakistan Armed Forces and government are determined that this will not happen.
“This operation that we started today, it will all end in some way. It all depends on what India wants,” he said.
“Pakistan had no choice, so our civil military leadership made the decision following the attack on Nur Khan Air Base. No more patience. We are just giving them a response.
“We’ve exhibited a lot of patience so far. There is a threshold which we cannot go beyond, especially when it comes to hypocrisy and double standards,” he said.
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