India Says Hundreds of Terrorists Killed in Strikes on Pakistan
India said its fighter jets destroyed a major terrorist camp in Pakistan in the worst escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals since 2001, in an incident that Islamabad has described as a "grave aggression."
More than 300 people were killed in the air strikes at the camp belonging to terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed that has trained suicide bombers, according to an Indian official speaking on condition of anonymity. Pakistan denies the attack did any damage or caused casualties.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said in New Delhi today that India carried out strikes in Pakistan following attack in Kashmir earlier this month in response to intelligence that indicated Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning more attacks.
Vijay Gokhale
Vijay Gokhale briefs the media about India’s air strikes in Pakistan, on Feb. 26.Photographer: Manish Swarup/AP Photo
"In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary," Gokhale said. "In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated."
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at a televised news conference in Islamabad that India violated the line of control. "We have the right to respond," Qureshi said. "India has committed aggression against Pakistan today -- I will call it a grave aggression. Pakistan reserves the right to respond reasonably," he said adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had called a security briefing.
Coveted Region
Earlier today, the Indian rupee weakened offshore, but has since erased most losses and is now trading 0.1 percent lower at 71.05 per dollar. Pakistan stocks dropped 1.5 percent in the first 10 minutes of trading, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index near the lowest level in almost six weeks. India’s S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.6 percent at 12:09 p.m. in Mumbai, after plunging as much as 1.4 percent.
Read more: Where the Latest India-Pakistan Conflict May Lead
Indian Air Force violates Pakistani air space to conduct air strikes near Line of Control
This handout photo shows trees damaged by payloads dropped by the Indian Air Force, near Balakot, Pakistan, Feb. 26.Source: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) via EPA-EFE
"The last time the Indian Air Force crossed the line of control intentionally and publicly to conduct air strikes was 1971," Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT said via email, referring to the last Indo-Pakistan war. But the fact that Pakistan has already said the aircraft did no significant damage could lead to a de-escalation, he said.
Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesman of the Pakistan Armed Forces, said the Pakistan Air Force responded by scrambling its own jets, adding in a tweet there were “No casualties or damage.”
Tense Relations
Relations between the historic arch-rivals has been extremely tense since a suicide car bombing, claimed by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, on Feb. 14 in Kashmir killed 40 members of India’s security forces. Jaish-e-Mohammed is a United Nations designated terrorist group.
INDIA-PAKISTAN-UNREST-KASHMIR
Indian security forces inspect the remains of a vehicle following an attack in Kashmir on Feb. 14.Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
It’s the worst escalation since 2001, when Pakistan and India moved ballistic missiles and troops to their border following an attack on parliament in New Delhi that was also blamed on Jaish-e-Mohammad. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since partition and independence in 1947.
"This is the first time that India has crossed the line of control and from the looks of it, the international border," said G. Parthasarathy, the former Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan. "In 2001, we had deployed the army on our borders but there was no military action."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in the coming months, is under enormous pressure after blaming blaming Pakistan for the worst attack on security forces in Kashmir in several decades, and markets reacted after Modi pledged a “befitting reply.”
Islamabad has denied any role in the Feb. 14 attack. Khan vowed to retaliate against India in a televised speech on Feb. 19 if New Delhi launched any sort of military response. Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in the past few days visited troops along the “Line of Control” to see their preparedness, according to the military media wing Inter-Services Public Relations.
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