With multiple aircraft taking off at same time, how IAF confused Pak and hit Balakot

New Delhi, Feb 26: One of the key aspects about today's air strikes was that it was carried out at a time when Pakistan was on very high alert in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.

To avenge the Pulwama attack, India needed to act quickly. However at all high-level meetings, the possibility of terrorists being shifted out of Pakistan occupied Kashmir was discussed. Going to PoK, this soon was not going to make any sense, an officer explained.

The element of surprise and the location to be struck were key to the operation. In addition to this, there was also a need for precise intelligence on the location of the terrorists.

Pakistan felt that the terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad would not be safe at PoK and hence in a hurry shifted them all to its high profile facility in Balakot. Since the day of the Pulwama attack, India had spoken about action against the terrorists groups being harboured by Pakistan.

Among all the possibilities that were discussed, the most feasible one was an air strike. While limited conflict and a surgical strike were discussed, most top security officials were in favour of an air strike deep across the Line of Control.

There was plenty that had to be done in order to confuse Pakistan, especially at a time when the nation was on high alert. The IAF began lining up its jets near the border. Nearly 140 aircraft were lined up in a huge build up.

When the decision was finally taken to strike at Balakot, several aircraft took off from the air bases at the Central and Western commands simultaneously. This was done to confuse Pakistan. It was not clear where the strikes would take place due to multiple aircraft taking off at the same time. Pakistan did not expect that the destination would be Balakot and was anticipating a hit at Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Further over the past couple of days, the intelligence gathered concrete information that the JeM terrorists had all been shifted to the Balakot facility. Pakistan did not expect that this facility would be the target. This was the element of surprise as a result of which the IAF could carry out this operation.

There was also a lot of risk involved in the operation. There was every chance of the aircraft being shot down. Officials said that there was no doubt about the risk, but it was taken and the IAF was confident that it could achieve what it had been tasked with.