Indian Air Force surgical strike on Pakistan: Watch live coverage on India Today TV
In an attempt to avenge the Pulwama attack, which led to the death of 40 brave soldiers, the Indian Air Force today (February 26) carried out surgical strikes 2.0. The strikes carried out against Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), however, unlike the first one from 2016, when a special team from the Indian Army crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in the dark of the night and neutralised targets before safely returning back to the Indian side of the border.
Surgical strike 2.0 was carried out by the Indian Air Force, which is said to have launched airstrikes on terror camps and launchpads at 3.30am. According to reports, the aircraft from the Air Force flew undetected and dropped payloads of 1,000 kg bombs on Jaish bases across the LoC reportedly killing between 200-3000 terrorists. The targets mainly included terror camps in Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad.
Watch the full coverage of the attacks here:
According to India Today TV, the air strikes deep inside Pakistani territory were carried out by aircraft from Indian Air Force bases from Agra and Gwalior.
In an ambitious attack, the air force sent about 12 Mirage 2000 aircraft in batches which were armed with 500/1,000 Kg laser-guided bombs.
After crossing into Pakistan, the pilots of the Mirage 2000 jets used Israeli-made laser pods to 'paint' targets. Finally, the Mirage 2000 jets dropped their payload of bombs.
Sources said terrorist launchpads in Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad were completely destroyed in the IAF air strikes, and that Jaish-e-Mohammed control rooms were also destroyed.
As was in the case of the surgical strikes back in 2016, the Pakistan Armed Forces have claimed that the IAF attack caused no damage as quick response from the Pakistan Air Force saw the Indian aircraft "scrambling back."
There had been considerable anger in India against Pakistan since the Pulwama attack forcing the Indian government to say that all three wings of the forces had been given full freedom to strike back against Islamabad.