Pak President Admits He Was Advised To Move To Bunkers During Op Sindoor

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has admitted that his military secretary had advised him to move to a bunker during the four-day conflict with India in May. However, he had declined that advice, he told a public gathering on Saturday.

India had launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, 2025, to avenge the massacre of 26 civilians by terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 26.

After the strikes started, Zardari revealed that his military secretary had requested him to take shelter in a bunker.

"He (the secretary) came to me and said that 'war has begun. Let's go to the bunkers.' But I told him that if martyrdom is to come, it will come here. Leaders don't die in bunkers. They die on the battlefield," the Pakistani president said in his speech, indicating the highest levels of alarm that rang in the power corridors of Islamabad after India's strikes.

Zardari also claimed that he was aware of the war four days earlier.

Puncturing holes in Zardari's account of the conflict, a retired Indian military officer said that the entire Pakistani political leadership and military brass hid in the bunkers.

"Even Asim Munir was inside the bunker when India attacked. The political leadership and military commanders were in the bunkers. Only their soldiers were fighting it out, and they got killed. Even this is a lie that he knew it four days in advance. If they knew it four days in advance, why couldn't they stop a single missile from hitting nine targets?" Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (retired) told news agency ANI.

In tactical strikes carried out by the Indian Army and the Air Force under Op Sindoor, at least nine terror camps were destroyed and over a hundred terrorists were eliminated.

In response, Pakistan made unsuccessful attempts of missile and drone attacks on Indian cities. Their commanders eventually requested a ceasefire, unable to bear more losses on their side. The conflict ended on May 10.