Army chief Bipin Rawat said that the Balakot terror camp in Pakistan, which the Indian Air Force bombed in response to the Pulwama terror strike, has been reactivated, PTI reported. "This shows Balakot was affected; it was damaged. It highlights some action was taken by the Indian Air Force, and now they have got the people back there," he said, according to ANI.
"Pakistan violates ceasefire to push terrorists into our territory. We know how to deal with ceasefire violations. Our troops know how to position themselves and take action. We are alert and will ensure that maximum infiltration bids are foiled," he said.
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The Pakistan military has always contested India's version of the strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp, denying it ever happened. They had even taken a group of international media personnel and foreign diplomats on a tour of a seminary and its surrounding areas, where India carried out an air strike. Pakistan had rejected Indian claims and said "the operation was a failure that saw the IAF jets bomb a largely empty hillside without hurting anyone". The JeM terror group admitted that India attacked its centre in Balakot, but claimed that were no casualties in the air strikes.
Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of the Jaish killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.
Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest Jaish training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, the Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.