Jaish camp in Balakot, bombed by IAF, is functioning again
The camp of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan's Balakot, which was bombed by Indian Air Force jets in February, has started functioning again, Army Chief Bipin Rawat announced on Monday. He said the camp has been "reactivated" very recently. "This shows that Balakot has been affected, it had been damaged and destroyed. It highlights some action was taken by IAF," Rawat said. Here's more.
To recall, 12 IAF jets had breached Pakistani airspace on February 26 to conduct the risky operation. They bombed the camp and returned to their bases without a scratch. IAF had decided to hit Jaish's biggest facility after the outfit engineered the Pulwama attack on February 14, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were martyred on Srinagar-Jammu highway. Subsequently, tensions between India and Pakistan peaked.
Rawat's statement falls in line with a report in TOI. According to the daily, Jaish is under pressure in Pakistan to hit India after New Delhi revoked Article 370. Hence, Jaish, run by UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar, has decided to activate its training camps and launch pads in PoK and Pakistan. The Balakot camp has a "new nomenclature and set-up".
Further, the report added that business is back to normal at the Balakot camp. Intensive training is being carried out as Jaish "readies" itself to attack J&K and other parts of India. The access to the camp is said to be strictly regulated. This development confirms Pakistan has dropped the facade that it is trying to control home-grown terrorism.
Notably, the Army Chief's comments come hours after PM Modi, in an apparent hint to Pakistan, said that everyone knows where the perpetrators of 9/11 and 26/11 attacks were found. He was speaking at Houston's "Howdy Modi" event where he said it was important to take action against terrorism as well as against those who support it. Interestingly, US President Donald Trump concurred.
