IAF hits JeM's biggest camp in Pakistan: India

 ​New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) jets early on Tuesday hit the biggest training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group in Pakistan, eliminating a very large number of terrorists and their trainers.

Foreign Secretary Vijay K. Gokhale told the media that the "non-military pre-emptive action was specifically targeted at the terrorist camp" which he said was located on a hilltop far away from civilian areas.

The camp, he said, was located at Balakote. Following an uproar within Pakistan that the strike occurred deep inside Pakistani territory, Islamabad clarified that the Indian attack took place in the Balakote located close to the Line of Control (LoC).

Pakistan said the IAF jets dropped bombs and returned when Pakistan scrambled its war planes.

The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Asif Ghafoor, said the "intrusion" took place within three to four miles of LoC in Pakistan administered Kashmir.

A place called Balakot is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a Balakote is located in the Pakistani administered Kashmir. The incident took place in the Muzaffarabad sector, said Radio Pakistan.

The IAF action follows a suicide bombing on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 which killed 40 troopers. 

The attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based JeM.

Flight tracking websites spotted heightened activities along the border with an IAF early warning plane Emb 145 and mid-air refueller circling in the area early in the morning.

Reports claimed that the IAF strike was carried out by a group of Mirage 2000 fighters at around 3.30 a.m.