India Strikes Pakistan: 25 Top Commanders Killed, Ajit Doval Tells CCS

As many as 25 top commanders have been killed in the airstrike carried out by India on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) biggest training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval told the members of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), on Tuesday.

The airstrike was conducted 12 days after the terroist group killed 40 Indian soldiers in a suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama.

NSA Doval, while addressing the CCS meeting in New Delhi, said the demolished target was not an ordinary terror launch pad or base. “It was a virtual garrison,” he said, adding, “the facility had firing ranges, explosive test facilities, air-conditioned offices of trainers and barracks.”

The facility was built with the assistance of the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), he added.

The presence of such a large number of Jaish commanders, Doval said, was due to desperate measures taken by the ISI a week back, in view of the worldwide condemnation of the Pulwama terror attack.

Sources had told India Today that Pakistan’s ISI had shifted Jaish chief Masood Azhar, along with a couple of the commanders, to a safe hideout near Bahawalpur among other places.

India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, earlier in the day, while apprising the nation of the early morning airstrike had said the demolished camp was led by Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri, the brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar.

“Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary,” Foreign Secretary Gokhale said.

He added, “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. As the strike has taken place only a short while ago, we are awaiting further details.”

In response, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Pakistan reserved the right to react.

Source: IT

Image Courtesy: TBI