By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar. Special Forces
One Mr Nathan Ruser who works for Australian Strategic Policy Institute after carrying out his analysis from some satellite imagery, with source not known says that there is “no apparent evidence of more extensive damage and on the face of it does not validate Indian claims regarding the effect of the strikes.”
Another person Michael Sheldon a Digital Forensic Research Associate at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab has also cast doubts on the Indian claims regarding the effect of strike on the terrorists at Balakot.
Whether the Indian Strike was effective or not is no more important but what remains important that like USA and Israel, now India too has shown its Will and ability to strike on Terror even when it is hiding deep inside Pakistan.
In fact this Indian strike is very much different from any American or even Israeli strikes. Till date America has done strikes on Countries who cannot retaliate against USA, especially its mainland, using an Air Force.
Where as India has hit the terrorists being nurtured by a ranking military power in the World and that too a nuclear armed military power. From Jane’s Air Defence to NATO to the Americans, all till date had rated the Pakistani Air Defence environment much better than the Indian.
So from now onwards will not every terrorist camp in Pakistan keep shivering all the time, not knowing when the next strike will be coming. This will certainly give them less time and incentive to plan strikes against India.
However the speed of analysis and publishing the results of their “ speedy analysis “ regarding the terrorist casualties is amazing.
Rather they should have done such analysis of the shooting down of the mighty F-16 by the so called Russian junk the MIG 21 because such analysis would have benefitted all those countries still lining up to buy F16 or F21 fir their Air Forces.
What Mr Ruser and Mr Sheldon have failed to bring out in their conclusion is the fact that if there were no significant damage done by the Indian pre dawn strike then why did the Pakistan Army cordoned off the entire area right after the bombing.
They did not allow even the police or the local civil authorities to enter the cordon. The army also confiscated the mobiles of all the medical staff who were with the ambulances.
The Indian Air Force struck the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in balakote and the Indian Intelligence sources say that the strike killed the brother and the brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar, among others.
According some eye witnesses present at the site, they saw up to 35 bodies being transported out by ambulance after the attack. They saw 12 bodies coming out of one single wooden building.
Sources also claim that one Colonel Salim a former ISI officer was also killed in the aerial raid and one Colonel Zakri was injured. Then names of Mufti Moeen, a Jaish-e-Muhammad instructor from Peshawar, and improvised explosive device-fabrication expert Usman Ghani were also floating around as killed in the bombing.
Indian intelligence sources said two of the names mentioned by the eyewitnesses — Usman and Colonel Salim — had also figured in intercepted communications.
Indian officials have clarified that synthetic aperture radar photos clearly show that the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) training camp in Balakot was hit during the February 26 airstrikes by the IAF.
The photos confirm that four buildings of the intended target were hit by Spice-2000 precision-guided bombs fired from Indian Mirage-2000 fighters. Though number of casualties cannot be seen.
Though Paki establishment are saying that there were no Jaish-e-Muhammad fighters at Jaba top, but many in POK are insisting that they were present. There were reports that also said that no Jaish trainees were attacked and it was only civilians who were the actual victims.
Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam has gone ahead to claim that Indian jets bombed a “forest reserve” and the government was undertaking an environmental impact assessment, which will be the basis a complaint at the United Nations and other forums.
However if this was the case then why did the Pakis escalate the matter by sending in the F-16s later. Also they could have asked the JeM to release video statements from both the brother and the brother in law of Masood Azhar or best they could have given a live interview to the Press. Rushing the Army columns for Cordoning off the entire area for 15 uprooted pine trees and then attacking India with F-16s and risking an all out war for the uprooted trees really demonstrates the concern of Pak Government for the World Environment ……we Indians are really touched.
