Pakistan’s Hidden Losses in Operation Sindoor: SAMAA TV List Reveals 155 Soldiers Killed in Indian Strikes
In a stunning development that has cast serious doubts on Pakistan’s war narrative, a leaked report from Pakistani news channel SAMAA TV briefly published a list of 155 Pakistan Army personnel killed during India’s Operation Sindoor in May 2025. The report, which included the names, ranks, and provinces of the fallen soldiers, was quickly removed under pressure from the Pakistani military, fueling accusations that Islamabad has been hiding the true scale of its battlefield losses.
The list, which circulated online before being scrubbed from official platforms, revealed that nearly all the casualties were from the Punjab province, with only a handful from Balochistan. Most of the slain were sepoys (junior enlisted soldiers), along with a few non-commissioned officers. Many of the names were prefixed with “Shaheed”, Pakistan’s honorific for martyrs, indicating that the military had formally acknowledged their deaths internally even as it denied them publicly.
The revelation directly contradicts Islamabad’s repeated claims that India’s strikes had only hit “empty hills” and “uninhabited targets.” Instead, the list points to the destruction of multiple Pakistani military bases, validating India’s assertion that Operation Sindoor inflicted heavy losses on Pakistan’s armed forces.
Military analysts note that this episode is not just about battlefield numbers but also about credibility. By silencing its own media and suppressing casualty figures, Pakistan’s leadership has exposed its propaganda strategy—downplaying defeats while amplifying minor successes. The suppression of SAMAA TV’s report has also sparked questions within Pakistan about the freedom of press and the military’s tight grip over information during wartime.
India, for its part, has maintained that its strikes were precise, targeting command centers, logistics hubs, and forward bases. The accidental publication of Pakistan’s casualty list appears to confirm this narrative, delivering a major propaganda victory for New Delhi and an embarrassing setback for Islamabad.
The leaked list also raises another uncomfortable truth: Pakistan’s reliance on its Punjab-heavy military recruitment base. With the majority of the casualties from Punjab, the war’s burden has fallen disproportionately on a single province, something that has historically fueled resentment in other regions like Sindh and Balochistan.
For the Pakistani establishment, the incident is more than a military loss—it is a political and psychological blow. The exposure of hidden casualties undermines its narrative of resilience and paints Operation Sindoor as a decisive failure for Pakistan’s armed forces. Meanwhile, for India, it strengthens claims of having achieved a strategic upper hand and of dismantling Pakistan’s ability to wage prolonged conflict.
The suppression of SAMAA TV’s report cannot erase the digital trail of the soldiers’ names. Their sacrifice now serves as a stark reminder of the cost of war—and the dangers of propaganda in concealing truths that eventually surface.
