India claims to have struck 'biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot'

Published February 26, 2019
India's Foreign Secretary VK Gokhale. — AFP
India's Foreign Secretary VK Gokhale. — AFP

India's Foreign Secretary VK Gokhale on Tuesday claimed that the country's air force "struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Balakot".

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Gokhale said "a large number of JeM terrorists were killed".

"The strike avoided civil casualties," he alleged.

Early on Tuesday, Inter-Services Public Relations' (ISPR) Major-General Asif Ghafoor said that Indian military planes violated the Line of Control (LoC), intruding from the Muzaffarabad sector. "Facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot."

"Credible intel [intelligence] was received that JeM was planning more suicide attacks in India," alleged the Indian official. "In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary."

"Top commanders were eliminated in the strike," he said, adding "the action took place just hours ago".

Dawn Exclusive: A time for restraint

However, Balakot police chief Saghir Hussain Shah told The Associated Press that he had sent teams to the area — which he described as a mostly deserted wooded area — who found "no casualties, no damages on the ground because of the dropping of the bombs”.

"Information has been provided to Pakistan from time to time [...] Pakistan has taken no concrete action," Gokhale alleged. The purported 'action' by India comes only days after Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated his offer that if India provides Pakistan with "actionable intelligence" regarding the February 14 attack in occupied Kashmir's Pulwama, "we will immediately act”.

"This facility at Balakot was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar (alias Ustad Ghouri), the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, Chief of JeM," according to Gokhale. He, however, did not provide any evidence to back claims of the alleged camp being destroyed.

Prior to the press conference, India's Cabinet Committee on Security met at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in New Delhi, Asian News International reported.

According to Indian media reports, Modi briefed Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu after the meeting. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has also called an all-parties meeting at 5pm (India time).

Opinion

Fifty years later

Fifty years later

The nation is stuck in a repetitive cycle: striving for fair and timely polls, basic rights, and civilian empowerment.

Editorial

Healing old wounds
09 Dec, 2023

Healing old wounds

IN a development that will surely shine a spotlight on one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s democracy, the...
New Danish law
09 Dec, 2023

New Danish law

THE public defilement of Islamic sanctities — mainly by Islamophobic provocateurs in the West — serves no...
Elected set-up’s job
09 Dec, 2023

Elected set-up’s job

Backed by a powerful establishment, the interim government has done a fairly good job at executing IMF-mandated policies.
Privatising SOEs
Updated 08 Dec, 2023

Privatising SOEs

WHY does the government want to demolish the historic Roosevelt Hotel in New York — one of the eight properties ...
Filing returns
08 Dec, 2023

Filing returns

THE grim realities of Pakistan’s flailing efforts to ensure tax compliance often present themselves as farce....
Cost of negligence
08 Dec, 2023

Cost of negligence

ONCE again, Karachi has witnessed a tragic fire, this time engulfing a six-storey commercial-cum-residential ...