New Delhi: India on Tuesday justified the Surgical Strike 2.0 with a dozen aircrafts’ air attack deep in Pakistan, saying in the face of imminent danger, a “non-military preemptive strike” became absolutely necessary.
In a written statement, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at a press briefing that “credible intelligence was received that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose.”
He said India struck the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghouri, the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, Chief of JeM, eliminating a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis being trained for fidayeen (suicidal) action.
Though the officials claimed three places in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were hit in the airstrikes destroying six JeM camps, Gokhale’s official statement is limited to the Balakot operation. Pakistan on the other hand claimed the Indian planes crossing LoC violating its air space were intercepted and they flew back releasing their “payload early,” without any casualties.
Gokhale said India targeted the JeM camp located in thick forest on a hilltop far away from any civilian presence “to avoid the civilian casualties.”
Here is the full text of his statement: On 14 February 2019, a suicide terror attack was conducted by a Pak based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad, leading to the martyrdom of 40 brave jawans of the CRPF.
JeM has been active in Pakistan for the last two decades, and is led by Masood Azhar with its headquarters in Bahawalpur. This organization, which is proscribed by the UN, has been responsible of a series of terrorist attacks including on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 and the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.
Information regarding the location of training camps in Pakistan and PoJK has been provided to Pakistan from time to time. Pakistan, however, denies their existence. The existence of such massive training facilities capable of training hundreds of jidhadis could not have functioned without the knowledge of Pakistan authorities.
Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary.
The Government of India is firmly and resolutely committed to taking all necessary measures to fight the menace of terrorism. Hence this non-military preemptive action was specifically targeted at the JeM camp. The selection of the target was also conditioned by our desire to avoid civilian casualties. The facility is located in thick forest on a hilltop far away from any civilian presence. As the strike has taken place only a short while ago, we are awaiting further details.
The Government of Pakistan had made a solemn commitment in January 2004 not to allow its soil or territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India. We expect that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment and takes follow up actions to dismantle all JeM and other camps and hold the terrorists accountable for the actions.
