Srinagar, February 26 (KNO) : Barely two weeks after Lethpora attack in Pulwama district, had killing 40 innocent CRPF personnel, Indian Air Force fighter jets launched a major offensive on Tuesday, dropping heavy artillery in Pakistani territory in an early morning strike amid claims of damaging the training camps of militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad.
According to KNO, as many as 12 Mirage 2000 jets struck in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakothi areas in Pakistan. The attack was carried out at around 3:30 am, IAF sources have said. As per the IAF sources, the fighter jets dropped 1,000 kilograms of bombs at camps across the Line of Control. What makes the strike a serious offensive against Pakistan is that Balakot falls beyond Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK). The Pakistan Army has issued a condemnation.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in its statement said that on February 14, a suicide attack was conducted by a Jaish-e-Mohammad, leading to the killing of 40 CRPF men. “JeM has been active in Pakistan for the last two decades, and is led by Masood Azhar with its headquarters in Bahawalpur,” it said. “This organization, which is proscribed by the UN, has been responsible of a series of attacks including on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 and the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.”
It said that information regarding the location of training camps in Pakistan and PaK has been provided to Pakistan from time to time. “Pakistan, however, denies their existence. The existence of such massive training facilities capable of training hundreds of jihadis could not have functioned without the knowledge of Pakistan authorities,” the MEA said. “India has been repeatedly urging Pakistan to take action against the JeM to prevent jihadis from being trained and armed inside Pakistan. Pakistan has taken no concrete actions to dismantle the infrastructure on its soil.”
Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary, the MEA.
In an intelligence led operation in the early hours of today, India struck the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. “In this operation, a very large number of JeM trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated. This facility at Balakot was headed by Moulana Yousuf Azhar, (alias Ustad Ghouri), the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar.
The Government of Pakistan had made a solemn commitment in January 2004 not to allow its soil or territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India. We expect that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment and takes follow up actions to dismantle all JeM and other camps and hold the “terrorists accountable for the action.”
However, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations Major-General Asif Ghafoor, said in a tweet: “Indian Air Force violated Line of Control, following which Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled and Indian aircraft went back,” he said.
In another tweet, Ghafoor said that the aircraft faced "timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force" and ended up releasing "payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot". No casualties or damage occurred, the military spokesman said. Ghafoor also tweeted “pictures” of the spot where the payload hit. Tensions between India and Pakistan have heightened since an attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14 that killed 40 troopers.(KNO)