Surgical Airstrike in Pakistan

Foreign secretary VK Gokhale said India carried out the airstrike across the LoC after “Pakistan failed to take any concrete action against terrorists”.

The Indian government said “in the face of imminent danger, a pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary”. (Photo: ANI)

India has struck Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC), 12 days after 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

Foreign secretary VK Gokhale said India carried out the airstrike across the LoC after “Pakistan failed to take any concrete action against terrorists”.

On Tuesday, the Indian Air Force (IAF) jets crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and destroyed major terrorist camps in Balakot sector in a pre-dawn strike, sources said. Several Mirage 2000 aircraft dropped 1,000 kg bombs on terrorist camps across the LoC.

Sources said terrorist launchpads in Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad were completely destroyed in the IAF air strikes, and that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) control rooms were also destroyed. (Get live updates)

Earlier, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces claimed that the IAF violated the LoC, and that the Pakistan Air Force responded immediately, after which the Indian aircraft went back.

India’s airstrikes come days after Jaish, the Pakistan-based terrorist group, carried out a suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 40 CRPF soldiers.

Here is the full statement by the Indian government on the air strike in Pakistan:

On 14 February 2019, a suicide terror attack was conducted by a Pak based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), leading to the martyrdom of 40 brave jawans of the CRPF. JeM has been active in Pakistan for the last two decades, and is led by Masood Azhar with its headquarters in Bahawalpur.

This organisation, which is proscribed by the UN, has been responsible of a series of terrorist attacks including on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 and the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.

Information regarding the location of training camps in Pakistan and PoJK 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 jidhadis could not have functioned without the knowledge of Pakistan authorities.

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 of terrorism 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.

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 terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated. This facility at Balakot was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar (alias Ustad Ghouri), the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, chief of JeM.

The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to taking all necessary measures to fight the menace of terrorism. Hence this non-military preemptive action was specifically targeted at the JeM camp. The selection of the target was also conditioned by our desire to avoid civilian casualties. The facility is located in thick forest on a hilltop far away from any civilian presence. As the strike has taken place only a short while ago, we are awaiting further details.

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 actions.