Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale on Tuesday confirmed Indian Air Force strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed's terrorist camp at Balakot in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. "In the face of imminent danger, a non-military pre-emptive strike was absolutely necessary. As a result, India struck the largest militant camp in Balakot and eliminated a large number of terrorists," said Gokhale about the early morning strike against Pakistan on Tuesday. "Large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders were eliminated in largest JeM camp in Balakot. The camp was led by Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri, brother in law of JeM Chief Masood Azhar."
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Gokhale added that it was a "non-military, pre-empted action specifically targeted at terrorist activity" in Pakistan. "Credible information was received that JeM was attempting other attacks in the country. A pre-emptive strike became important," Gokhale said. "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." However, more details are awaited, he added.
The confirmation comes hours after Pakistan claimed Indian Air Force jets had crossed the Line of Control, following which Pakistani fighters were scrambled. Gokhale accused Pakistan of taking no action to dismantle the terrorist groups breeding in their soil, despite repeated warnings from India.
The strike comes almost 18 days after more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack in Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14. The Jaish-e-Mohammed had taken responsibility of the attack. Jaish-e-Mohammed was also behind the 2001 Parliament and 2016 Pathankot attacks
In an early morning attack on Tuesday, the Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 jets crossed 50 miles undetected into Pakistan and hit Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where several Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps are located.