New Delhi:
The Indian Air Force carried out pre-dawn airstrikes on Tuesday and destroyed major launch pads of terrorists in Pakistan’s Balakot. More than 10 bombs were dropped by the multi-role fighter jet Mirage 2000 at around 3:30 am. The attack was confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. In a brief statement issued to media, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale spoke about ‘intelligence operation.’ “In an intelligence lead operation in the early hours today, India struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot. In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commander and Jihadis were eliminated,” Gokhale said. “Credible information was received that JeM was attempting other attacks in the country. A pre-emptive strike became important. India struck the biggest camp of JeM in Balakot,” Gokhale added.
Surgical strike 2.0: Pakistani politicians react after 'surgical strike'
Shehbaz Sharif
Pakistan leader of the opposition in National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif said that India should refrain from plunging into war. “The Indian leadership should come to its senses and act responsibly and should not [plunge] the people of South Asia into war,” he said. Shehbaz further warned that India should not take Pakistan’s patience as weakness. “It will be a significant mistake on the Indian side to mistake Pakistan’s stance as weakness," he said.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
We kept on telling the world that this could happen… they [India] carried out aggression against Pakistan today. India violated the LoC [today]. Pakistan holds the right to self-defence and a befitting response,” Qureshi told media, after chairing an emergency consultative meeting at the Foreign Office. The meeting at the Foreign Office was attended by former foreign secretaries and senior diplomats, and held consultations over the prevailing situation.
Khursheed Shah
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Khursheed Shah said that we are in a state of war. "India should know that jihad is a part of our faith," Shah asserted. "The opposition is ready to stand on the border and Pakistanis are ready to sacrifice their lives," the PPP leader stated.
Khawaja Asif
This is a challenging time. It is a matter of life and death for the country. We need to stand with our forces now. The OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) has been invited for the first time. It is a setback and an embarrassment for us. Our friends have invited India, it is an insult. We must boycott the OIC.
