The josh was definitely high today morning as India woke up to a news flash about the Indian Air Force (IAF) carrying out strikes over terrorist camps across the Line of Control (LoC) during the wee hours of the night.
1,000 kg laser-guided bombs were dropped by twelve Mirage 2000 fighter jets over terror training camps of the Jaish e Mohammed, Lashkar e Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen at Balakot along with Alpha-3 control rooms in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region which is 195 km away from Islamabad.
The attack is a non-military pre-emptive action and was targeted at the terrorist camp. As per a Pakistani media source, at least 200-300 have been eliminated.
The entire operation took just 19 minutes starting at 3.45 am. These camps were completely destroyed as has been mentioned in the reports.
This has been the first cross border strike carried by India in 48 years, the last one being during the 1971 Bangladesh War.
Almost three years ago, on Sep 29, 2016, as a response to the Uri Attack of Sep 18, 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes on seven terrorist launch pads
The IAF strike has taken place after 11 days of the terror attack in Pulwama. On February 14, more than 40 CRPF soldiers were attacked by a Jaish e Mohammad suicide bomber while coming back from their leaves and resuming duties.
This terror training camp at Balakot is the biggest of Jaish e Mohammad wherein several JeM terrorists have successfully been eliminated. Political leaders from the ruling party as well as the opposition have supported this attack by the Indian Air Force
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) GP Sharma from the Indian Air Force who is an expert and President of Meteorology at Skymet Weather Services says that inclement weather can be used as a weapon. During the attack, the entire area had been witnessing weather activities in terms of rain and snow due to the persistence of a Western Disturbance.
During inclement weather, the strikes are least expected and can be used against the enemy bringing the surprise element. The terrain is difficult being mountainous along with which the weather had added to the woes of pilots. However, with proper briefing, class apart fighter jets and the bravery of pilots, the attacks were successfully carried out without any harm to our soldiers.
Flight safety is always of paramount importance and safety norms are always followed by pilots. During all times, thorough weather briefings are provided by meteorologists of the Air Force along with which, these jets have onboard intimation of weather including the weather radar.
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