Indian air strikes target Pakistani airbases, severe damage reported

India Today

Indian air strikes on Pakistani soil have resulted in significant damage to multiple key facilities, including the Sheikh Zayed International Airport and Rahim Yar Khan Airport. Reports confirm structural impairments at both airports, disrupting aviation operations.

Transcript

00:00Let's also get you some of the pictures that are coming in right now.

00:06The first pictures of what exactly has been the impact of our strikes on these Pakistani air bases.

00:13This is where in fact, this is the Rahim Yarkhan air base, which is where the JF-17 fighters are kept.

00:21First images on your screens there, look at that.

00:23Let's also come full frame to those pictures.

00:25This is from the air base.

00:26This is the aftermath of the Indian Precision Strike, the forward air base, which was hit with drones, which was hit with UAV ops.

00:36And just look at the impact there.

00:38The damage created to the building that's part of, in fact, this air base.

00:42This is the Sheikh Zayed International Airport, which is in this particular air base.

00:48So this particular air base also has a lot of weapons system of Pakistan that's kept there.

00:53And that's why strategically we chose this location.

00:57I'll bring in Sandeep Unitan also to kind of explain to us the relevance, the importance of the Rahim Yarkhan air base.

01:03We're putting our pictures, Sandeep.

01:05The first images of the kind of impact of this particular strike.

01:10Well, Akshita Rahim Yarkhan International Airport, and of course, it's the Rahim Yarkhan Pakistan Air Force base.

01:20It's named after Sheikh Zayed of the UAE, who's been a big donor to Pakistan.

01:26And in, you know, in his honor, it's been named.

01:28But this is also a dual-use facility, as your footage is showing that it's used both by the civil and the military.

01:35But, you know, essentially, this targeting of eight airfields inside of Pakistan, these eight air bases inside of Pakistan,

01:43is a very, very significant move by the Indian Air Force and, of course, by the government of India,

01:49conveying resolve in taking on the Pakistan Air Force, which has, over the last few days, been striking at Indian installations,

01:57been striking at military cities, military installations, sending out a message to the Park Air Force's vulnerabilities,

02:05striking them on the ground, striking their infrastructure, their command posts, their ammunition dumps, all of that.

02:11And this is, you know, it's unprecedented again, Akshita, I keep using that word.

02:15We've not seen these kind of strikes since the 1971 war.

02:20That's over 54 years since now that we've not seen the Indian Air Force conducting such extensive attacks on Pakistani airfields.

02:30The last time we saw that was in 1971.

02:33And, in fact, just last night we had Admiral Arun Prakash, a former chief of the naval staff,

02:39who was possibly, you know, one of the most unique pilots in India,

02:43because he was an Indian naval pilot in 1971.

02:47He was flying hunters with the Indian Air Force.

02:49And he struck at Sargoda Air Base, which was, you know, then a very key position for the Pakistan Air Force.

02:58And he took out a C-130 transport aircraft and, of course, the aircraft used by Chuck Yeager,

03:05the Colonel Chuck Yeager, who was the U.S. air attaché to Pakistan at that time.

03:11Of course, everyone remembers him as the fastest, the first person to cross the sound barrier, you know, test pilot.

03:18But, you know, the fact is that we've not seen this kind of operations in 54 years.

03:23And this is very, very significant.

03:26The government of India has escalated the situation to a point when it is indicating to Pakistan that all options are on the table.

03:33We first struck at terrorist infrastructure in phase one of Op Sindhu.

03:38We went after the military infrastructure in phase two by taking out the radar sites.

03:44Phase three, what we are seeing on your screens right now is when we are taking on the airfields,

03:50those eight airfields that India has carefully monitored, tracked and targeted

03:55and finally struck with precision-guided air-to-ground missiles again to ensure that no damage was done to civilians.

04:03We have only targeted military infrastructure.

04:05We have targeted a very key Pakistan Air Force base.

04:09And this must have rattled Pakistan, Akashita, because, you know, it is a small country.

04:14It's possibly less than one-fourth India's territory.

04:17And it has a lot of military infrastructure very close to the international border with India.

04:24And that would have added to their discomfort, looking at all of these images,

04:29seeing that, you know, there cannot be any low-cost option of targeting India using terrorism or even using drones.

04:37Any attack of the kind that they've launched, including the one using a high-speed ballistic missile,

04:44will be met with this kind of retaliation, where your infrastructure, your critical assets of your Air Force will be targeted.

04:51But again, it is still confined to military targets.

04:55It's still confined to the Air Force.

04:56It's confined to the Army.

04:58Big signaling from India over here, Akashita.

05:00Very true.

05:01And Sandeep, you highlighted what phase one, phase two, phase three of Operation Sindhu looks like.

05:06And there will be a big question mark of what phase four will look like.

05:09That, perhaps, is based on what Pakistan does next, because we've been hitting back in retaliation to Pakistan's provocations

05:17and Pakistan's attempts to target our bases.

05:19I'll bring in Ankit Kumar also, joining us from the newsroom, to kind of describe the images that we're seeing right now, Ankit, on our screens.

05:26Akashita, important to point out that the visuals that you are showing,

05:30remember, India today does not have a camera deployed there, that the visuals that we are showing has been duly checked, verified,

05:38geolocated by India today's fact-checked team.

05:42So, just to give you some sense why we are putting these out.

05:45Now, there are two types of visuals that you can see.

05:48There is a building.

05:49Earlier in the morning, we also showed a large crater on a runway.

05:53We can now say, with certain authority, that the crater is from the middle of the runway.

06:00Remember, there's only one runway.

06:01There's only one functional runway at that airport.

06:04If you take that out, that makes the airbase redundant.

06:09Also, the support architecture buildings, from these social media photos,

06:12we can confirm that they are from that very place and they are visibly damaged.

06:16So, a very critical, very strategic air force station, air force base,

06:23that Pakistan could have used, opposite Rajasthan, that is now redundant.

06:28Okay, thanks very much, Ankit, for joining us with those details.

06:31Ankit rightly pointing out that these pictures, we have verified, we have wetted,

06:35and then put it out, so that you get an accurate picture right now,

06:39of the kind of damage on Pakistani air bases.

06:43Alright, apologies for that.

06:44This is the Raheem Yarkhan airport.

06:47It's an airbase and also a civilian airport, but mind you,

06:51we've ensured that the damage in the building happened at a time

06:54when the airport wasn't functioning.

06:55So, again, ensuring very clearly that civilians aren't targeted.

06:59Pakistan may keep doing it.

07:00Pakistan may keep provoking, targeting our civilians along the line of control,

07:04sending across drones to target civilian establishments,

07:07but that's a red line we will not cross.

07:09India is mature.

07:11We have principles.

07:12We stick by that, no matter what kind of provocations Pakistan resorts to.

07:16But we will hit, and we'll hit hard at their military bases.

07:20And it is from the Raheem Yarkhan airport that we've also seen those pictures of a massive crater,

07:26right bang in the middle of the runway.

07:29So, this airport being hit, impacted very badly.

07:33And just a glimpse, really, of the kind of damage we've inflicted.

07:36Because, mind you, there are eight bases in all, eight military bases,

07:40largely air bases, that have been targeted in this manner by India,

07:44including a missile being fired in Rawalpindi at the Noor Khan Air Base.

07:49And those images we're awaiting, we assure you, we will get them for you as well,

07:53once we verify all the footage during the rounds,

07:56to show you what is the aftermath of our strike on the Noor Khan Air Base,

08:00which is perhaps the most significant strike of the lot that we've seen right now

08:06in the last few hours by India.

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