UPDATES WITH MORE STATEMENTS FROM PAKISTAN
By Aamir Latif and Shuriah Niazi
KARACHI, Pakistan/NEW DELHI, India (AA) – Indian jets intruded into Pakistan's airspace amid mounting tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals but “escaped ” without causing any casualties or damage, Pakistan’s army said early Tuesday.
“The Indian Air Force violated the Line of Control (LoC),” Pakistan Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor said in a statement, referring to the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir Valley between the two countries.
“Facing a timely and immediate response from the Pakistan Air Force, Indian aircraft released payloads in haste while escaping, ” Ghafoor added, referring to weapons fitted in the aircraft.
The unspecified number of Indian aircraft tried to intrude from three points before crossing the LoC from the Muzaffarabad sector, he said.
Facing stiff resistance from Pakistani jets, they dropped four bombs at Jabba, near Balakot town in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, he said, reporting no casualties or damage.
- India says terrorists killed
Meanwhile, India claimed that “several terrorists” were killed in preemptive action on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp.
Foreign Secretary of India Vijay Keshav Gokhale briefed the media on the airstrike in Pakistan's Balakot on Tuesday morning.
He said: “Credible intelligence was received that the JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country” and training militants for this purpose.
Giving details of the Indian action, Gokhale stated: “In an intelligence-led operation in the early hours today, India struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot in a non-military preemptive action. ”
“The camp is located at a hilltop far away from civilian settlements. The selection of the target was done to avoid civilian casualties, ” he said.
The camp was controlled by by Maulana Ustad Azhar, the brother-in-law of JeM head, Masood Azhar, according to Gokhale.
The attack eliminated a large number of militant group members, including trainers and senior commander, the Indian official added.
Pakistan has recognized JeM as a terrorist organization since 2002.
- Pakistan issues warning
Later on Tuesday, top Pakistani civil and military leadership gathered for a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad to review the situation.
A warning was issued after the meeting saying Pakistan would response to the act of aggression at a “time and place of its choosing “.
Addressing a joint news conference with Pakistan's Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the move came as India gears for general elections in a few months, hinting at the use of anti-Pakistan propaganda to gather votes.
“This action has been done for domestic consumption being in election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk, ” Qureshi added.
Tensions between the two countries mounted last week after a suicide bombing on an army convoy killed over 40 Indian troops, the deadliest single assault on India’s forces in three decades in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian-administered section of the disputed region.
New Delhi blames Pakistan for the attack — charges Islamabad denies.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
Since they were partitioned in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir. Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
Widely quoted estimates for the number of people killed in the conflict since 1989 go as high as 70,000, but other calculations based on Indian government data are far smaller, at about 41,000. India maintains a large military presence in the disputed region.
