Indian military targeted three airbases, says Pakistan’s military
Pakistan’s military media wing now says that three airbases were targeted by Indian forces in the latest attacks.
As well as targeting the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, an attack was also launched at the Rafiqui airbase, which is situated in Shorkot, in the Punjab province, and is roughly 250km (150 miles) from Lahore, the provincial capital.
Another attack was carried out at the Murid airbase in Chakwal city, which is situated approximately 120km (75 miles) from the capital Islamabad.
Pakistan’s military also claimed that India used “air-to-surface missiles” from planes to target the airbases in Pakistan. However, it added that “all assets” are safe.
Tensions appear to be ‘spiralling’ between India and Pakistan
Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Lahore, says tensions appear to spiralling out of control as Pakistani security sources claim that three military bases in Pakistan have been targeted by Indian air-to-surface missiles, although they say the attacks were thwarted.
“It feels like it’s a night of ratcheting up tensions between these two neighbours,” Bin Javaid said.
“[And] despite all of the back and forth we’ve seen to try to find a path of de-escalation [by Saudi Arabia and the US], more fighting has been taking place across the Line of Control,” he added.
“So it does appear that these tensions are spiralling towards a place where Pakistan launches an imminent attack on India.”
‘We are now looking at a much bigger scale war’
Kamran Bokhari, senior director at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC, says the situation has worsened significantly with Indian targeting of Pakistan’s airbases.
“With Pindi being hit and other airbases such as the one in Sargodha, the war has a taken a turn for the worse,” he said.
“We are now looking at a much bigger scale war.”
Pakistan closes its airspace
In light of the latest attacks, Pakistan Civil Aviation has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) that it is closing its airspace from 3:15am (22:15 GMT) on May 10 until 12pm (07:00 GMT).
