One after another! It was expected that India would retaliate in response to the deadly Pahalgam attack. As anticipated, India launched Operation Sindoor, destroying nine terrorist bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and within Pakistan. Several missiles were fired, and key terror hubs were wiped out.
While India was focused on executing the retaliation, Pakistan was busy spreading fake news. After India’s Operation Sindhur airstrikes on terror camps in Pakistan and PoK, Pakistan’s media and official accounts flooded social media with fake claims, old images, and misleading videos, alleging downed Indian jets, attacks on the Srinagar airbase, and captured Indian soldiers.
The Fact Check Unit (FCU) of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting swiftly exposed this coordinated disinformation campaign. The FCU debunked at least five major fake claims, including an alleged BrahMos missile malfunction and the supposed downing of a Rafale jet near Bahawalpur, claims falsely supported by an old image from a 2021 MiG-21 crash in Punjab.
Another widely circulated video, shared by Pakistan’s Minister Attaullah Tarar, falsely showed the Indian Army surrendering at Chora Post. The footage had no factual basis. Additionally, a video claimed to be an attack on the Srinagar airbase was identified as footage from sectarian clashes in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in early 2024.
On Wednesday alone, Indian authorities flagged 24 accounts for spreading misinformation related to Operation Sindhur. Officials condemned Pakistani political figures for amplifying false narratives and warned that such actions mislead the public and intensify the spread of disinformation.
India reiterated that its strikes exclusively targeted terrorist infrastructure and urged citizens to rely on official channels for verified information.
As expected, India launched Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, striking terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The action came just days after a brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which left 26 dead — 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen among them.
The missile strikes were aimed at camps run by proscribed outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Indian defence officials stressed that the operation was carefully calibrated to avoid escalation. No Pakistani military or civilian infrastructure was targeted. Instead, the strikes focused exclusively on dismantling terrorist bases.