BALAKOT AIRSTRIKE

INTRODUCTION
The Balakot airstrike was conducted by India in the early morning hours of February 26
when Indian warplanes crossed the de facto border in the disputed region
of Kashmir, and dropped bombs in the vicinity of the town of Balakot in KPK province in
Pakistan.
Pakistan's military, the first to announce the airstrike in the morning of February
26, described the Indian planes as dropping their payload in an uninhabited wooded
hilltop area near Balakot.
India, confirming the airstrike later the same day, characterized it to be a preemptive
strike directed against a terrorist training camp, and causing the deaths of a "large
number" of terrorists.
The following day, February 27, in a tit-for-tat airstrike, Pakistan retaliated, causing an
Indian warplane to be shot down and its pilot to be taken prisoner by the Pakistan
military before being returned on March 1.
Analysis of open-source satellite imagery by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics
Laboratory, San Francisco-based Planet Labs, European Space Imaging, and
the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has concluded that India did not hit any targets
of significance on the Jaba hilltop site in the vicinity of Balakot.
On 10 April 2019, some international journalists, who were taken to the Jaba hilltop in a
tightly controlled trip arranged by Pakistani government, found the largest building of the
site to show no evidence of damage or recent rebuilding.
INCIDENT
On 26 February 2019, Pakistan announced the intrusion of Indian aircraft into its
airspace, but asserted that the Indian fleet was intercepted, causing them to retreat, to
release their bombs which hit an open area, and to dump their fuel. In a press briefing,
Pakistan's Director-General ISPR, Major General Asif Ghafoor, stated that three IAF
teams were spotted approaching the Pakistan border from various sectors in the early
hours of 26 February. He added that the two of these teams did not cross the border
following a challenge from Pakistani aircraft flying combat air patrol, but the third one
crossed the Line of Control from the Kiran Valley near Muzaffarabad before being
intercepted by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets within three minutes of the
incursion. Pervez Khatak, Pakistani Defense Minister, stated that the Pakistani Air
Force did not retaliate at that time because "they could not gauge the extent of the
damage".
Later on 26 February 2019, India confirmed the airstrike, stating that the IAF conducted
them in retaliation to the Pulwama Attack. The strikes were subsequently claimed to be
"non-military" and "preemptive'' in nature; targeting a Jaish-e-Muhammad facility within
Pakistan.
The airstrike was the first time since the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 that attacking
warplanes had crossed the Line of Control.
DAMAGE
Neutral sources have asserted that the munitions dropped by Indian warplanes
appeared to have hit several trees in a wooded area but caused no other damage, nor
any casualties in the area where the attack took place. Some Western diplomats also
stated that they did not believe Indian Air Force had hit any militant camp. Western
security officials have cast doubt over Indian claims and asserted that there are no
longer any such large scale militant camps in Pakistan.
India has asserted that "a very large number of Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorists, trainers,
senior commanders and groups of jihadi," who were preparing for launching another
suicide attack targeting Indian assets, were killed. Indian media reported that the camp
was leveled, and about 200–350 Jaish-e-Muhammad militants were killed though the
exact figures varied across media-houses. The NTRO had located about 300 active
mobile phones in the camp; prior to the strike. In contrast, Pakistan asserted that there
were no casualties or infrastructure damage as a result of the attack.