Balakot airstrike: 80% bombs hit target, says IAF in proof submitted to govt

Ten days after the Indian Air Force dropped bombs in the training camp of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot in Pakistan, the IAF has reportedly provided the government with proof that it hit targets during the February 26 airstrike.

The IAF has submitted satellite images to the Centre as proof of successful Balakot airstrike, which showed that 80 per cent of the bombs deployed during the airstrike hit their intended targets, top sources within the service told India Today TV.

According to India Today, the IAF has prepared a dossier to counter the media reports which claimed that bombs missed their target. Accusing India of "eco-terrorism", Pakistan has claimed that Indian warplanes bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balakot that damaged pine trees and forest land.

Also Read: 'If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target': IAF dismisses Pakistan's claim of bombs landing in jungle

Earlier on Wednesday, a satellite imagery captured on March 4 shows no visible signs of an aerial attack on the JeM's training camp in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. According to Reuters, a satellite image taken by San Francisco-based Planet Labs Inc on March 4, six days after the Indian strike, is "virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility". The report also said, "There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack."

The Indian Air Force has submitted a dossier to the government, which contains 12 pages of high-resolution satellite images and synthetic aperture radar imagery collected from an intelligence aircraft platform flying in Indian airspace, top IAF sources told India Today TV.

"The Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jets, which carried out the Balakot airstrike, dropped Israeli Spice 2000 precision bombs with "penetration warheads" during the raid. These bombs "pierced roofs" of the buildings targetted and exploded inside. So the damage was "internal"," sources quoted as saying.

On February 26, in a well coordinated operation, a fleet of Mirage 2000 aircraft struck inside Pakistan, targeting the JeM's training camp, which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

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Edited by Chitranjan Kumar