Afghanistan strikes Pakistan's strategic Nur Khan military airbase

Amid escalated cross-border tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Ministry of National Defense of the Islamic Emirate said it had carried out airstrikes on major military installations in Pakistan, including the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, describing the action as a response to Pakistani air raids on Afghan territory.

In a post on X, the Ministry of National Defence of Afghanistan said the Afghan Air Force conducted “effective airstrikes” targeting important Pakistani military facilities. “The Air Force of the National Defense Ministry today once again carried out effective airstrikes on important military bases in Pakistan. These strikes included Nur Khan Base in Rawalpindi, and the 12th Brigade base in Quetta, Balochistan, and the Khoizai camp in the Mohmand Agency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and some other military sites in Pakistan that house important military facilities and centers. These attacks resulted in significant damage to these targets,” the post read.

Notably, the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi’s Chakala also suffered significant damage in May last year following India’s coordinated strikes on key military installations in Pakistan, which came as part of Operation Sindoor, in retaliatory action by the Indian Armed Forces.

The Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, as a retaliatory response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies on May 13 revealed significant damage to multiple air bases in Pakistan, including Nur Khan Air Base.

Meanwhile, the Afghan defence ministry also stated that the operation was launched in retaliation for airstrikes that were carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul, Bagram and other areas “last night and today”.