section_path: Timeline/10 May
section_name: 10 May
paragraph_text: 10 May
  
  On 10 May, India accused Pakistan of launching missile attacks on air bases in Punjab in the early hours, including the Pathankot military airfield. According the The Indian Express, a Fatah-II long-range missile was intercepted near the Sirsa Air Force Station shortly after midnight.
  
  At 1:45 am, Pakistan Army spokesman made a unscheduled broadcast claiming that India fired ballistic missiles from Adampur that fell into its own territory, saying that they struck Adampur and Amritsar, and later (around 3:20 am) added that India had targeted Afghanistan with missile and drone strikes. India denied the allegations, calling the claims "ludicrous" and "frivolous". The Taliban government of Afghanistan also denied Pakistani claims of Indian attacks on Afghanistan. It was termed a "bizarre and unsubstantiated claim" by Clary.
  
  At 2:09 am, Pakistan's Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, considered a strategic target by India, was hit by an Indian missile. India said the next morning that it had launched attacks on Pakistan's air bases in response to the drone and missile attacks along India's western sector. It described them as precision attacks on identified military targets. It said Pakistan Air Force bases at Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, and Rahim Yar Khan Airport as having been targeted. The strikes also targeted military sites in Sukkur and Chunian, a radar installation in Pasrur, the Sialkot aviation base, and other air bases at Skardu, Sargodha, Jacobabad, and Bholari.
  
  Around 3:20 am, Pakistan denied initiating hostilities, instead alleging that India had first fired air-to-surface missiles using fighter jets at military bases — Nur Khan, Rafiqui, and Murid. Pakistan said that all Pakistan Air Force (PAF) assets at targeted bases remained safe. Pakistani media reported that Sheikh Zayed International Airport in Rahim Yar Khan was targeted and suffered structural damage. The airport was named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and is regarded as a symbol of Pak-UAE friendship. Although commercial flights have been suspended since 2023, the airport was occasionally used by members of the House of Nahyan via the Royal Lounge, which was among the facilities destroyed in the attack. The Pakistan military later confirmed that six of its airmen were killed during the Indian air strikes including 5 deaths at Bholari and one at Sargodha; Chief Minister of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, also later said that nine personnel injured in Indian attacks
  
  Shortly after the Indian missile strikes, Pakistan launched a retaliatory operation, codenamed Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos. It claimed to have struck and caused major damage to 26 military targets, including 15 air bases of Suratgarh, Sirsa, Naliya, Adampur, Bhatinda, Barnala, Halwara, Awantipur, Srinagar, Jammu, Udhampur, Mamoon, Ambala and Pathankot. It further said that the BrahMos storage facilities at Beas and Nagrota were destroyed, and that two S-400 systems at Adampur and Bhuj were neutralised by the Pakistan Air Force. Pakistan said that military logistics and support sites such as the Field Supply Depot in Uri and Radar Station in Poonch were targeted, and command headquarters such as 10 Brigade and 80 Brigade at KG Top and Nowshera, as well as proxy training and intelligence fusion facilities in Rajouri and Nowshera, were destroyed. Pakistan further said that Indian military elements across the LoC, including headquarters, logistic bases, artillery positions, and posts, were heavily damaged. It said that its drones flew over major Indian cities and sensitive political and military sites, including New Delhi. Additionally, Pakistan reported a spike in terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which it claimed was sponsored by India. Pakistani state media said that Pakistan launched a cyberattack as a part of the operation, targeting Indian military satellites and government websites. Pakistan shut down its air space later in the day.
  
  The Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif later said in his speech on the Independence Day of Azerbaijan that the operation had already been initially planned for 4:30 am in the morning but India attacked before that time. In an earlier speech, he had said that the Army Chief called him at 2:30 am to inform him about the Indian airstrikes and sought permission to strike back. The Army Chief is said to have called back later in the night informing him about "befitting response" and adding, "we are being requested for a ceasefire". PM Sharif said he told him to go ahead and accept the offer.
  
  India denied damage to its airbases, including Sirsa and Suratgarh Air Force Stations, and rejected claims regarding the destruction of its S-400 and BrahMos systems calling it a "malicious misinformation campaign". It released time-stamped images of the targets as evidence, and reported minor damage to its airbases in Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj; the death of an Indian Air Force soldier at Udhampur was also confirmed. That the extent of damage to the Indian airstrips was minimal was further confirmed through commercial imagery obtained by The New York Times. The Indian Army released images of what it said were debris of a Baykar YIHA III loitering munition destroyed by the air defence units. It said the drones were used to target civilians areas in Amritsar at around 5 am. India later said that over 600 Pakistani loitering munitions, the Baykar YIHA, and UCAVs, the Asisguard Songar, were shot down and several missiles were intercepted.
  
  Concurrently with the missile strikes, heavy fighting took place at the LoC near Sialkot and Rajouri. India's military said that Pakistan's retaliatory shelling targeted civilian areas killing at least five people, with drones targeting a Hindu temple in Jammu. Analyst Michael Kugelman posited that the two countries were now "effectively at war"; but neither side had mobilized ground forces, according to a former Indian diplomat.
  
  At 6:55 am, PTV News reported that prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had called a meeting of the National Command Authority, responsible for the country's nuclear weapons command and control through its secretariat - the Strategic Plans Division. Pakistan's Minister of Defence Khwaja Asif later denied that such a meeting took place or was scheduled.
  
  A ceasefire began at 17:00 (IST)/16:30 (PKT). It was first announced by US President Donald Trump on social media, prior to the official statements by the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers. After the ceasefire, there were reports of explosions in the cities of Srinagar and Jammu according to authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses. Both sides claimed victory after the ceasefire. Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif designated 16 May to be celebrated as Youm-e-Tashakur ('Day of Gratitude') in honour of its armed forces.