In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated dramatically, leading to a series of cross-border hostilities.
Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, which involved drone and missile attacks targeting Indian cities and defence infrastructure in retaliation for India’s Operation Sindoor.
These incursions were reported across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, marking one of the most intense phases of the conflict.
On 10 May 2025, Pakistan deployed the Fatah-1 guided artillery rocket as part of its offensive. However, India’s air defence network successfully intercepted and destroyed the rocket mid-air over Sirsa in Haryana, preventing any damage to its intended targets.
Despite this interception, Pakistani military propaganda attempted to portray the strike as a success. A video surfaced online featuring Captain Muneeb Zamal, a Pakistani officer, who claimed that their missile strikes had successfully hit two Indian airbases. The problem with this assertion was that the airbases he mentioned—Rajouri Airbase and Mamun Airbase—do not exist.
Rajouri is a district in Jammu and Kashmir but has no operational Air Force base. Mamun, meanwhile, is a military cantonment located in Pathankot, Punjab, and not an airbase at all. The officer’s confident declaration quickly became the subject of ridicule across social media platforms.
His statement that the presence of civilians during missile launch preparations acted as a “confidence building” element only added to the controversy. The video clip was widely shared, with users mocking the claims and pointing out the absurdity of targeting non-existent facilities.
Social media users responded with biting sarcasm. One post quipped that archaeologists, cartographers, Google Maps, and the Indian Air Force had launched a joint mission to locate the mythical “Rajouri airbase and Mamun airbase.”
Another joked that the Fateh-1 missile had struck the airbases so hard they ceased to exist, with the next target being Atlantis. These satirical remarks highlighted the incredulity surrounding Pakistan’s claims and underscored the gap between propaganda and reality.
Meanwhile, missile debris from the failed offensive turned up in unexpected locations. Fragments were discovered in agricultural fields in Sirsa, Haryana, as well as in Barmer, Rajasthan, and Jalandhar, Punjab.
In September 2025, debris suspected to be from a Fatah-1 missile was even recovered from Srinagar’s Dal Lake, further illustrating the scattered and ineffective nature of the strikes. These findings reinforced the narrative that Pakistan’s missile campaign had failed to achieve its objectives and instead left behind evidence of misfires across Indian territory.
The incident serves as a reminder of the dangers of misinformation during conflict. While Pakistan sought to project strength through exaggerated claims, the reality on the ground revealed the effectiveness of India’s air defence systems and the inability of Pakistan’s offensive to cause meaningful damage.
The ridicule that followed Captain Zamal’s statements reflects the broader scepticism towards such propaganda and highlights how quickly false claims can be debunked in the digital age.
Agencies
