Indian Air Force bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26, in response to the Pulwama attack. Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations on Wednesday. However, the IAF thwarted their plans.
India TV on Wednesday showed video clips of common Pakistani citizens expressing their anger against Imran Khan and his government because of runaway inflation in the prices of essential commodities and mounting debts that his country is facing.
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, a brave pilot, who shot down Pakistani F-16 jet during aerial combat on February 27 is likely to be awarded Vir Chakra, according to HT. Apart from Varthaman, other pilots who were part of the pre-dawn Balakot airstrikes will also get top military honours.
On February 26, Indian airplanes crossed the LoC into the disputed region of Kashmir and dropped bombs on a terrorist camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed located near Balakot town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Over 300 terrorists were reported killed in the airstrikes by various sources in India, a claim vehemently denied by Pakistan.
The Balakot strike demonstrated the IAF's ability of precision bombing, Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa said Tuesday, asserting that it is capable of taking part in a full spectrum of conflict, ranging from "sub-conventional to nuclear". He said in case "we have correct coordinates, the Air Force is capable of doing all-weather bombing through clouds".
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that Government of India, in tandem with the state government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain cross-border infiltration, which include multi-tiered deployment along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC), border fencing, improved intelligence and operational coordination, equipping security forces with improved technological weapons and taking pro-active action against infiltrators.
India TV spoke to Mirage 2000 fighter pilots who were among those who struck the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp near Balakot in Pakistan in February.
Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa has said that Pakistani fighter planes did not enter the Indian airspace after the Balakot strike.
After the Pulwama attack, Indian Navy had taken out its Naval assets from exercises and deployed them at strategic positions facing Pakistan. Conventional as well as Nuclear submarines were mobilized to forward positions.
There was a lot of secrecy maintained by India before conducting the Balakot airstrikes. Months have passed, and operational details still remain confidential. However, it is for all to know that the Balakot airstrike mission was codenamed - 'Operation Bandar' - to maintain confidentiality.
Reports on Monday claimed that Pakistan has shut down terror camps on its soil fearing more Balakot-like airstrikes by India. But has it really?
The same poll shows that 25.74 per cent of those polled were "satisfied to some extent" while 18.17 per cent were "not at all satisfied" with the BJP government.
The Indian Airforce has bought over 100 SPICE bombs from Israel in a deal worth Rs 300 crores.
Pakistan had fully closed its airspace on February 27 after an Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot. Pakistan opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.
The IAF said it had removed restrictions that were imposed on all routes a day after its 12 Mirage 2000s crossed over to Pakistan and attacked a JeM terrorist training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In the wake of escalating tension following an airstrike by Indian Air Force in Balakot last February, Pakistan had restricted its airspace for airlines to and from India.
As per Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, Raghunath Nambiar, "very strong clouds and very strong convective conditions in clouds prevent the radar from detecting very accurately".
"Why I am saying this is because during Kargil (War), you showed every picture on the television screen. The strike of the Air Force on Pakistani ammunition dump was flashed across the screens. Today your technology is far more sophisticated," Captain Amarinder Singh said.
In the letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury accused the Prime Minister of making "outrageous claims" on the Balakot air strike in a television channel.
"The Pakistani government will decide whether to lift or not its airspace ban for the Indian flights on May 15," Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Mujtaba Baig told PTI on Sunday.
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