New Delhi: Fresh controversy has erupted after a Pakistani Air Force officer claimed that Pakistan had successfully targeted two Indian airbases during last year’s military confrontation with India, even though one of the locations mentioned does not actually have an airbase.
The remarks surfaced months after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, where 26 people were killed. In response, Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor and carried out strikes on nine terror camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The operation triggered several days of heightened military tensions between the two countries before a ceasefire was reached in May 2025.
The latest controversy began after Pakistani Air Force officer Aurangzeb Ahmed claimed during a public interaction that Pakistan had been assigned two targets, “Rajouri Airbase and Mamun Airbase,” and had successfully engaged both.
However, the statement quickly drew attention online because no airbase exists in Rajouri. While Rajouri is a district in Jammu and Kashmir, it does not house an Indian Air Force base. Mamun, meanwhile, is known as a military cantonment area in Pathankot.
The clip rapidly spread across social media platforms, where users mocked the claim and questioned the credibility of the statement. Many sarcastically joked that the alleged airbases had been hit so hard that they had “disappeared from maps.” Others pointed out that residents familiar with Rajouri had never heard of any such airbase existing in the region.
The controversy has once again drawn attention to competing wartime narratives that emerged during the India-Pakistan military standoff following Operation Sindoor. During the escalation, Pakistani forces reportedly attempted incursions across sectors in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. On May 10, 2025, Pakistan also launched the Fatah 1 guided artillery rocket, which Indian air defence systems intercepted and destroyed.
The viral episode has now fuelled wider debate online over the accuracy and credibility of military claims made during periods of conflict and heightened national tensions.
