New satellite imagery: India’s strikes on Pakistan air base
Today's view: Pakistan's Nur Khan Air Base was targeted by India in a series of missile strikes last week.
Welcome to Views From Above, a newsletter bringing you satellite imagery snapshots of major world events. Today, we are looking at the aftermath of India’s strikes on sites in Pakistan.
Following a terror attack in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir, India launched a series of military strikes in Pakistan. These missile strikes targeted infrastructure that India described as supporting terror activity.
The satellite image above shows damage to Nur Khan Air Base, one of several Pakistani military sites targeted by Indian forces. The air base serves as a transport hub for Pakistan’s military and houses aerial refueling aircraft that help keep Pakistani jets in the air during combat. However, there is no clear damage to aircraft in the image above, which was captured several hours after the strikes occurred.
The base is located in Rawalpindi, just kilometers from Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad. As The New York Times reports, the site struck is also “a short distance from the headquarters of Pakistan’s Strategic Plans Division, which oversees and protects the country’s nuclear arsenal.”
Other military sites in Pakistan were also damaged by strikes, including Bholari Air Base shown in the satellite image below.
The recent exchange of strikes between India and Pakistan is reminiscent of events in 2019, when a terror attack on Indian personnel preceded more than a month of violence between the two nuclear-armed states.
Following this latest round of fighting, India and Pakistan have declared a ceasefire. The US reportedly took an active role in talks, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio spending much of Friday evening speaking with officials from both countries. However, the strength of that ceasefire is already being tested, with reports of shelling along the border prevailing into the weekend.
Thanks for reading Views From Above. Subscribe for free to get satellite imagery and news delivered to your inbox. Already subscribed? Share this newsletter with a friend.