FACT CHECK: Did Pakistan hit India’s Adampur air base during Operation Sindoor?

Despite the clear dominance of India’s air power in Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has been desperately trying to make a narrative of victory with Islamabad claiming to have hit several air bases in India.

Recently, a new report claimed that a direct hit at India’s Adampur air base by Pakistan had damaged a Su-30MKI fighter jet. The report also shared an image of the jet being repaired at the base.

However, top Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) imagery analyst Damien Symon has debunked the claim, saying that the image was taken in March 2025 and it actually shows a MiG-29 undergoing maintenance.

The dark soot near the engine test pad is routine, not battle damage, he said.

On June 6, Symon had debunked another Pakistani claim of hitting Bhuj military base in Gujarat and destroying an S-400 radar. His review of the image revealed that the marks of destruction, as Pakistan had claimed, were actually oil stains at the vehicle service yard. Also the image predates the recent India-Pakistan conflict as it was taken in February 2025.

Under Operation Sindoor, India launched air strikes on nine terrorist hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the early hours of May 7 in response to the Pahalhgam attack. Pakistan, in retaliation, fired hundreds of drones and missiles to the Indian side, sparking a military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. 

The tension eased after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire following a hotline call from the Pakistan Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to his Indian counterpart on May 10.