Operation Sindoor: Did India target Pakistan Air Force's Murid base? What latest satellite images reveal
New high-resolution satellite images have emerged showing extensive damage at Pakistan’s Murid air base, believed to be caused by India’s Operation Sindoor. The primary image shows a three-metre-wide crater just 30m from a suspected underground facility of the Pakistan Air Force, within the high-security complex.
Operation Sindoor – India’s military retaliation in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people – on the intervening night of May 6-May 7 had targeted nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The two countries agreed on ceasefire on May 10 after four days of hostilities.
The satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies showed damage to the rooftop of a structure near the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hangars. According to Damien Symon, a geospatial intelligence researcher associated with the Intel Lab, “the strike is visible at the most guarded complex within Murid air base”. Symon is known for analysing satellite imagery to monitor military and infrastructure developments.
"This complex is heavily protected with double fencing, its own watchtowers and access control indicating its high-value nature as a target. The earth-protected entrances suggest this site might serve as storage for special equipment or as a hardened operational shelter for personnel, capable of withstanding heavy bombardment," Symon said.
In ‘before’ and ‘after’ satellite images, the damage is “evident”, he pointed out. "Structural damage is evident at this facility, believed to serve as a command-and-control node near the UAV complex of the airbase. A portion of the roof has collapsed inward, and the outer walls also exhibit visible deterioration, likely from impact-related stress. A strike like this could have also caused damage within the upper floors of the building as well," Symon told NDTV.
The Murid air base is in Pakistan's Chakwal – 150km from the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir – and provides support to the Sargodha air base and the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi. Incidentally, both these air bases were targeted by India on May 10.
The Maxar high-resolution images showed extensive damage to Pakistan's Sargodha, Nur Khan (Chaklala), Bholari, Jacobabad, Sukkur and Rahim Yar Khan air bases, too.
Defence