At least 300 militants from Jaish-e-Mohammed group, considered terrorist by India, were killed as a result of an Indian airstrike on Pakistan on Tuesday, local media reported citing Indian government sources
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2019) At least 300 militants from Jaish-e-Mohammed group, considered terrorist by India, were killed as a result of an Indian airstrike on Pakistan on Tuesday, local media reported citing Indian government sources.The strike was conducted by 12 Mirage-2000 fighter jets across the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan in the town of Balakot, where the biggest Jaish-e-Mohammed camp was situated, according to the NDTV broadcaster.
"There was very credible intelligence info that JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) was planning to carry out terror strikes across India, thereby making this strike absolutely necessary. It was a non-military, pre-emptive strike. India has decided to take action against any terror threat to it," Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
Following the strike, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called the incident a "grave aggression by India against Pakistan" and breach of the LoC.
This incident followed the February 14 attack in which a car carrying over 100 Pounds of explosives was detonated on a highway next to a security convoy in the Pulwama district of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state, killing 45 Indian paramilitary officers. This was the biggest terrorist attack in India since 2008, when over 150 people were killed in Mumbai. India has named Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed residing in Pakistan, as the person responsible for ordering the attack.
After the attack, India blamed Pakistan for harboring and protecting terrorists, accusing the country of having a "direct hand" in the incident. As a punitive measure, India withdrew Pakistan's most-favored nation status and raised custom duties on goods imported from Pakistan to 200 percent.
Pakistan has, in turn, rejected the allegations of its involvement in the attack and said that this was New Delhi's strategy to divert international attention from human rights violations taking place in the Kashmir region.
