"Balakot was an important training center for the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and other terror organisations," sources said.
The terror camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, which was targeted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) early on Tuesday, was an advanced training centre where suicide bombers were produced.
In a sharp statement, the Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale called it a necessary measure to fight the menace of terrorism. He added that the non-military pre-emptive actionw as specicially targetted at the JEM camp.
"Balakot was an important training center for the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and other terror organisations," sources said.
"It had several structures to accommodate terrorist trainees and facilities to train them. It was used for battle inoculation," sources stated.
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Sources said, before the inception of JeM, the camp was also used by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
"Inspirational lectures were delivered by Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed chief) and other terrorist leaders on several occasions," sources said.
In December 2017, Abdullah, Masood Azhar’s son had undergone advance training here and did a 10-day 'refresher course’.
The Pulwama attack was also planned here and Pulwama mastermind Abdul Rasheed Ghazi was trained here.
Situated on Kunhar river, the camp offered the possibility of aquatic training to terrorists also. The camp housed more than 200 terrorists. The trainers were ex-army personnel.
Sources said, the terrorists have imparted the advanced Daura e Khaas training in weapons, explosives and field tactics, tactics for attacking security forces convoys, planting and making IEDs, preparations for suicide bombing, rigging vehicles for suicide attacks and survival tactics in high altitudes and extreme-stress situations.
JeM specialises in fidayeen actions and gives immense importance to religious indoctrination and ideological brainwashing.
Masood Azhar's relatives and cadres were trained at Balakot in advanced weapons and tactics, sources said.
The Indian Air Force, on Tuesday, carried out multiple aerial strikes at the terror camp, destroying control rooms of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and some other infrastructure.
JeM outfit had carried out terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 in which 40 security personnel were killed and five injured.
Pulwama terror attack had led to nationwide outrage and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed to punish those behind the attack.
1. India briefs foreign countries
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After the air strikes on Tuesday, India initiated the process of briefing foreign countries about the development.
Diplomats are being briefed in South Block by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on air strikes carried out at a massive Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Foreign diplomats from the USA, UK, Russia, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey and six ASEAN nations are being briefed by the Foreign Secretary.
Twelve days after Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force carried out multiple aerial strikes at terror launch pads at various places in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, destroying control rooms of JeM and some other infrastructure.
2. Political spectrum stands united
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In a swift and precise air strike following the Pulwama attack, India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders, officials said.
The operation, described as a non-military, preemptive strike, was welcomed by the entire political spectrum and military experts who had been advocating retribution after the February 14 suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama claimed by JeM.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the media the "intelligence-led operation" on the Pakistan-based terror group's biggest training camp in Balakot became "absolutely necessary" as it was planning more suicide attacks in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefed President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu about Tuesday's strike.
Though Gokhale did not make it clear if the strike was on Balakote in Pakistan occupied Kashmir or Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, defence sources said it was the latter. Balakot is about 80 km from the Line of Control and near Abbotabad where Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in hiding by covert US forces.
Gokhale also did not give details of how the attacks were carried out but the defence sources said a group of Mirage 2000 jets was used to drop bombs in the operation, which also included various other aircraft.
"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," Gokhale told the media.
In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became "absolutely necessary", the foreign secretary said.
Addressing the media at 11.30 am, he said the strike had been carried out by a "short while ago" and further details were awaited.
3. Large number of terrorists killed
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"In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated," he said.
The facility at Balakot, located in a thick forest on a hilltop far away from civilian presence, was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar, alias Ustad Ghouri, the brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar, he said, reading out from a statement.
The statement did not say if Yousuf Azhar was among those killed.
"The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to taking all necessary measures to fight the menace of terrorism," the foreign secretary said.
The selection of the target, he said, was conditioned by the desire to avoid civilian casualties.
India, Gokhale said, expects Pakistan to dismantle all terror camps, including those of the JeM.
" India has been repeatedly urging Pakistan to take action against the JeM to prevent jihadis from being trained and armed inside Pakistan. Pakistan has taken no concrete actions to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil," he said.
Earlier in the day, government sources said Mirage 2000 combat jets of the Indian Air Force bombed terror camps at multiple locations across the Line of Control in the Pakistani side. They said jets pounded the camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti.
4. JeM active in Pak for two decades
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The JeM has been active in Pakistan for the last two decades and has its headquarters in Bahawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab province, Gokhale said in the statement.
He pointed out that the organization is proscribed by the UN and has been responsible of a series of terrorist attacks, including on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 and the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.
"Information regarding the location of training camps in Pakistan and PoJK has been provided to Pakistan from time to time. Pakistan, however, denies their existence. The existence of such massive training facilities capable of training hundreds of jidhadis could not have functioned without the knowledge of Pakistan authorities," he said.
Though India has repeatedly urged Pakistan to take action against the JeM to prevent jihadis from being trained and armed inside Pakistan, Islamabad has taken no concrete action "to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil", Gokhale said.
In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi called an "emergency meeting" at the Foreign Office for consultations, sources said.
Qureshi will meet Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan after the meeting in which he will discuss the security situation with high-level officials, they said.
In an early morning tweet, Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said Indian aircrafts intruded from the Muzaffarabad sector.
"Facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot. No casualties or damage," Ghafoor said in a tweet.
"Indian Air Force violated Line of Control Pakistan. Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled. Indian aircraft gone back," he claimed.
