Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the strikes were conducted based on information that the Pakistan-based group was planning another suicide attack in India.
Agencies
New Delhi, February 26:
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Tuesday confirmed that Indian forces had carried out a “non-military pre-emptive action” against the biggest camp of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed militant outfit earlier in the day. He said the air strikes had become “absolutely necessary in the face of imminent danger”. A large number of terrorists and trainers of the militant outfit were killed in the attack, he said.
This is the first air strike by India across the Line of Control since 1971.
The action came 12 days after a terror attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir killed 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force. The Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility.
Earlier, unidentified officials had told ANI that a dozen Mirage 2000 jets of the Indian Air Force had destroyed terror camps across the Line of Control before dawn on Tuesday. They dropped “1,000 kg bombs” on the terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the officials said.
