600-700 students studied at the seminary and WION confirmed from locals that there was an active presence of Jaish-e-Mohammad in the area.
Even as Pakistan attempts to downplay the Indian Air Force’s post-Pulwama strike in Balakot’s terror camp, the story from the ground reveals otherwise.
WION found that a board at the scene which gives directions to the seminary which was being used to train jihadis. The board gave directions to the seminary and gave two different routes, a civilian one and full-trekking one.
The seminary, the board announced, was under the leadership of Maulana Masood Azhar. There was heavy military presence in the area. WION accessed various areas where the bombs had been dropped.
WION was barred rom taking the direct trek route to the seminary and was instead forced to take the ‘civilian’ one which had heavy military presence.
Read: 300 'active' mobile phones at Balakot terror camp
Off-the-camera, residents admitted to WION that it was a jihad training camp and Masood Azhar would visit every Thursday to give a lecture. 600-700 students studied at the seminary and WION confirmed from locals that there was an active presence of Jaish-e-Mohammad in the area.
Locals also told WION that on the night of the strikes, they heard noises of shelling.
Watch the full report below:
1. More to come: PM
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday indicated that last week's air strike in Pakistan won't be India's last such action against terrorism emanating from the neighbouring country. Addressing a gathering in Ahmedabad, Modi said he will target them (terrorists) "even if they hide in the bowels of the earth". "If one work gets over, our government doesn't sleep, but gets ready for another," Modi said, in a veiled reference to the February 26 air strike on a terror camp in Pakistan.
The remark elicited a loud roar of approval from the crowd. "We won't lag behind when it comes to taking big and bitter decisions," he said. Modi asked opposition leaders not to malign India's armed forces and desist from giving statements which may hog limelight in the Pakistani media.
2. Pak to fall in line?
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Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday hinted that his country may not oppose a joint move by France, Britain and the US in the UN Security Council to list Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.
"Time has come for Pakistan to decide in its own interests. We will do what's in Pakistan's interests," Qureshi told Geo TV in an interview.
Last week, the US, the UK and France moved a fresh proposal in the UN Security Council to designate Azhar as a global terrorist, a listing that will subject him to global travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo.
3. IAF planned strike
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The IAF's massive pre-planned day-night exercise in Rajasthan's Pokhran desert close to the Pakistan border on February 16 underwent certain changes in its format following the Pulwama attack after the government considered an air strike option across the LoC which was carried out 10 days later, official sources said Monday.
The exercise 'Vayu Shakti' involving over 140 fighter jets, military helicopters as well as a variety of missiles demonstrated the capability for short notice missions with pinpoint accuracy.
4. India shoots down Pak military drone
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A Sukhoi-30 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force on Monday shot down a Pakistani military drone in Bikaner sector of the Indo-Pak border using an air-to-air missile, government sources said.
The Pakistani drone was detected by a ground-based radar station and minutes later one of the Sukhoi-30 jets deployed in the area to keep an eye on Indian air space shot it down, they said.
The Pakistani military drone was targeted at around 11:30 AM in Bikaner-Nal sector in Rajasthan, the sources said.
It was the second unsuccessful attempt by Pakistan to send a spy drone inside India in the last six days.
A Pakistani drone was shot down by India on February 27 along the Indo-Pak border in Kutch in Gujarat.
The Indian Air Force has kept all its bases in Western sector on maximum alert after India carried out a strike on the biggest terrorist training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26.
Pakistan had attempted to retaliate by unsuccessfully targeting a number of military installations in Kashmir on February 27.
5. Under pressure, Pak 'bans' Hafiz Saeed's organisations
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Under pressure from the world community to act on terror, Pakistan on Monday banned 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat (FiF) by issuing a United Nations Security Council (Freezing and Seizure) Order (SRO), 2019.
The objective of the SRO is to make certain UN Security Council sanctions are applied on individuals and entities such as the JuD and FiF. The UNSC list includes the names of the al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, JuD, FiF, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other organisations and individuals.
The SRO overrides all previous local listings and under it, the assets of terror groups are frozen and taken over by the Pakistani government
