Balakot airstrike anniversary: When Indian Air Force avenged Pulwama terror attack

India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan, killing up to 350 terrorists and trainers who were moved there for their protection after the Pulwama attack.

Today is the 4th anniversary of Balakot airstrike. Indian Air Force had carried out airstrikes in Pakistan's Balakot targetting Jaish-e-Muhammed's (JeM) terror training camps on this day in 2019.

The daredevil attack was planned in retaliation to the brutal and deadly Pulwama attack against India, which claimed the lives of 46 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, along with the attacker.

In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan, killing up to 350 terrorists and trainers who were moved there for their protection after the Pulwama attack.

The pre-dawn operation, described as "non-military" and "preemptive", struck a five-star resort style camp on a hilltop forest that provided Indian forces with a "sitting duck target" and caught the terrorists in their sleep, OneIndia had earlier reported.

This was the first time since the 1971 war that India has used air power against Pakistan.

India received intelligence that the JeM had shifted many in-training terrorists and hardcore operatives, along with their trainers, to the camp, about 20 km from Balakot town, which has facilities for 500 to 700 people and even a swimming pool.

In a synchronised operation, fighter and other aircraft took off from several air bases in Western and Central commands at about the same time, leaving Pakistani defence officials confused about where they were heading, they said.

A small group of aircraft broke away from the swarm and headed to Balakot where "the sleeping terrorists were sitting ducks for the Indian bombing", said one source.

The entire operation, it is learnt, was over in 20 minutes, starting at 3.45 am and ending at 4.05 am.

At least 325 terrorists and 25 to 27 trainers were at the camp.

The facility at Balakot, located in a thick forest on a hilltop far from civilian presence, was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar, alias Ustad Ghouri, the brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar.

The strike was carried out using Mirage 2000 fighter jets, and a large number of terrorists were killed in the operation.

Pakistan, however, denied that the Indian Air Force had hit any terrorist camp and instead claimed that the strike had hit an empty hillside. They also claimed that no one was killed or injured in the attack. There were no independent reports of the damage caused or casualties from the strike.