Anniversary of the Pulwama Terrorist Attack: What Happened and How India Responded | India News
Rumita Patel
Twelve days after the attack on the CRPF convoy, in the early morning of February 26, Indian Air Force planes bombed the JeM camp at Balakot, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The airstrike was the first time since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 that fighter jets had crossed the Line of Control.
According to news reports, 12 Mirage 2000 aircraft participated in the operation. The aircraft carried SPICE 2000 and Popeye precision guided munitions and were backed by four Sukhoi Su-30MKI, Netra and Phalcon airborne early warning and control aircraft, an IAI Heron UAV and two Ilyushin Il-78 refueling aircraft.
“In an intelligence-led operation in the early hours of today (February 26), India attacked JeM’s largest training ground in Balakot. In this operation, a large number of terrorists, trainers, senior commanders, and jihadist groups from JeM who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated. This installation in Balakot was run by MAULANA YOUSUF AZHAR (aka USTAD GHOURI), the brother-in-law of MASOOD AZHAR, Head of JeM, “said the then Foreign Secretary at a conference of press later in the day.
