Was advised to take shelter in bunker during Op Sindoor, says Zardari

India's swift and precise retaliation against Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack not just rattled the country militarily but also instilled fear among its top leadership, with its President admitting he was advised to take shelter in a bunker during the May escalation. Speaking during an event on Saturday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari revealed that during New Delhi's retaliatory strikes in May, his Military Secretary urgently advised him to move to a bunker for safety, highlighting the intense fear gripping Pakistan's top leadership amid the Indian operation. "My MS (Military Secretary) was there. He came to me and said, 'Sir, the war has started.' I had actually told him four days earlier that a war was going to happen. But he came to me and said, 'Sir, let's go to the bunkers.' I said, 'If martyrdom is to come, it will come here. Leaders don't die in bunkers. They die on the battlefield. They don't die sitting in bunkers'," Zardari said.

The Pakistani government also acknowledged the impact of India's strategic and precision strikes on their military installation during Operation Sindoor in May this year when India responded to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives in April. Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar in his year-end press briefing confirmed that India had targeted its Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi's Chakala, damaging their military installation as well as injuring personnel posted there. "They (India) send drones towards Pakistan. In 36 hours, at least 80 drones were sent. We were able to intercept 79 drones out of 80, and only one drone damaged a military installation and personnel were also injured in the attack," Dar said. Dar further said that India "made the mistake" of attacking the Nur Khan Air Base in the early hours of May 10.