New Delhi: Drones, missiles, and misinformation—Pakistan’s response to India’s Operation Sindoor unfolded not just on the battlefield, but also across press briefings and social media feeds.
In fact, Pakistan launched a full-blown disinformation offensive aimed at domestic and international audiences. Led by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media arm of the Pakistan armed forces, this campaign spread doctored videos, unfounded claims, and strategic omissions, according to Indian officials and independent analysts.
Their assertions ranged from destroyed airbases to India attacking its own city Amritsar. The claim, repeated in press briefings and on Pakistani state television, was framed as an Indian attempt to provoke conflict and then pin the blame on Pakistan.
“Pakistan made the preposterous and outrageous claim that it was the Indian armed forces and the Indian Air Force (IAF) that were targeting cities like Amritsar,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in a press briefing last week. “This is nothing but a desperate attempt by Pakistan to disown its acts of aggression.”
The narrative only grew more bizarre. Pakistan accused India of attacking the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan, a claim that was swiftly and unequivocally denied by Indian officials.
In one of the more dramatic moments, ISPR Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry played a video clip at a press conference that appeared to show IAF’s Wing Commander Vyomika Singh “acknowledging” Pakistani restraint in targeting only military sites. But upon closer examination, the clip was riddled with jump-cuts and visible signs of digital editing.
Independent analysis revealed that critical sections of Singh’s statement had been removed or rearranged. Gone were the references to Pakistani strikes on civilian areas. Also missing were the details about the successful neutralisation of Pakistan’s drones and missiles, and India’s rebuttals to ISPR’s claims of damage at various airbases. Instead, the video presented a narrative aligned with Pakistan’s talking points.
Yet, such digital manipulation wasn’t limited to videos. Claims emerged from Pakistani officials and state media that Indian airbases in Adampur, Bathinda, and Pathankot had been “completely destroyed” in a coordinated missile and drone assault. PTV, Pakistan’s national broadcaster, doubled down, asserting that critical Indian military infrastructure had been rendered inoperative.
According to ISPR, the Pakistani Air Force launched a series of coordinated strikes targeting 26 Indian military installations as part of its response to Operation Sindoor. In an official statement, ISPR claimed that airbases and aviation facilities at Suratgarh, Sirsa, Bhuj, Nalia, Adampur, Bathinda, Barnala, Halwara, Avantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Udhampur, Mamoon, Ambala, and Pathankot all sustained “major damages.”
It further alleged that BrahMos missile storage facilities at Beas and Nagrota were successfully destroyed. These, it claimed, had launched missiles into Pakistani territory, causing civilian casualties.
Pakistan also asserted that its air force targeted S-400 missile defence batteries stationed at Adampur and Bhuj. Additionally, ISPR said that logistical and military support hubs which “sustained India’s unlawful operation against innocent Pakistani civilians” were hit, including a field supply depot in Uri and a radar station in Poonch.
Command and control centers were also allegedly struck, according to ISPR. Intelligence and operational support units were also cited as targets.
ISPR went on to claim that numerous military headquarters, logistic hubs, artillery positions, and posts—allegedly involved in causing civilian harm in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)—were systematically targeted and destroyed.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a thumping statement by landing at the Adampur Air Force base aboard a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. One of the photographs he shared showed him saluting with an S-400 air defence system in the backdrop.
Also Read: Operation Sindoor brings Daniel Pearl back in focus. How slain WSJ journalist’s father reacted
‘Drones over Delhi’
In a provocative claim, Pakistan’s military said that dozens of its armed drones were flown over major Indian cities including Delhi and sensitive government installations, extending their reach across Jammu and Kashmir down to Gujarat.
A few Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) teams reviewed satellite imagery from NASA and the European Space Agency for at least 10 of these sites. The findings were clear: no visible damage. Runways, hangars, control towers were all intact. Images of “damaged” facilities shared online by Pakistani accounts were either outdated or deliberately misrepresented. In one case, a satellite photo from March showing minor structural degradation at Adampur air base was passed off as recent war damage.
On Monday, Director General of Air Operations (DGAO) Air Marshal A.K. Bharti asserted that all Indian military bases and systems remain “fully operational and ready for any future missions,” signaling that no airbase runways suffered significant damage requiring extensive repairs or reconstruction.
Still, the barrage of claims continued. Reports surfaced of attacks on Jaipur and Srinagar airports, on railway infrastructure, on the electricity grid. Indian authorities debunked each in turn, often presenting video footage and imagery as evidence.
The scope of misinformation was sweeping. Pakistan claimed damage to the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project. It was none other than Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who dismissed Pakistan’s claim as a “blatant lie”. Misri went on to warn Pakistan that it would be solely responsible for the consequences that would undoubtedly follow if such claims were made a pretext to target Indian infrastructure.
If that was not enough, Pakistani accounts even alleged that Indian missiles had struck Afghanistan. Misri refuted the claim, dubbing it “ludicrous”. The Taliban’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement, flatly denying that Indian missiles had landed in Afghan territory.
What was, perhaps, the most bizarre was Pakistan’s attempt to pass off Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a designated global terrorist affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a civilian.
In a press briefing, ISPR presented the national ID card of an individual named Abdul Rauf, claiming he was “an innocent preacher”. But cross-referencing the ID number revealed a different reality: the man was Hafiz Abdul Rauf. His listing appears in the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions database, along with that of Lt. Gen. Chaudhry’s own father, Mahmood Sultan Bashiruddin, who has been linked to al-Qaeda.
The photograph of Abdul Rauf from Muridke was also used by India to identify and publicly name senior Pakistani military and police officials who attended the burial of terrorists—Lieutenant General Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Commander of the IV Corps of Lahore; Maj Gen Rao Imran Sartaj of the 11th Infantry Division of Lahore; Brigadier Mohammad Furqan Shabbir, Commander of 15 Hybrid Mechanized Brigade, Usman Anwar, Inspector General of Punjab Police among others.
(Edited by Tony Rai)