Four targets identified at Balakot were hit as intended

New Delhi, Mar 07: The debate over the authenticity of the Balakot air strikes continue with some claiming that no damage was created to the terror facility of the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

By March 2 2019, India had gathered sufficient evidence that suggested the targets identified at the Balakot facility had been hit as intended. Evidence in the form of satellite imagery had been collected, which clearly suggested that the buildings that were identified had been hit. Further it was said that the buildings were hit by 5 S-2000 precision guided munition that were fired from the Mirage 2000.

The evidence that was collected us under the classified category and it was entirely up to the government whether or not to release the information. India collected evidence in the form of Synthetic Aperture Radar, which suggested that the four buildings that were selected as targets were hit.

Further, following the strike, Pakistan took journalists to the spot and were selectively shown around. No journalist was allowed into the facility, Indian officials have learnt. Moreover the JeM facility was not accessible to anyone, officials also said.

Further there have been questions about the scale of destruction. India says that the S-2000 smart bombs penetrates the targets and causes a blast inside.

The Indian Air Force has collected from independent sources satellite imagery of the site to assess the impact and the same has been handed over to the government.

The government was given on Sunday all the "evidence" of the February 26 strike on the JeM camp, including radar and satellite imagery, which showed that the S-2000 laser-guided munition hit the intended targets causing significant "internal damage", sources quoted by PTI said.