IAF hits main Jaish camp in Balakot, 200-300 killed: Sources

The strike on terror camp comes 12 days after the Pulwama terror attack which left 40 CRPF jawans dead after a Jaish terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar highway on February 14.

The Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met on Tuesday within hours of the Indian Air Force fighter planes striking a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp across the Line of Control in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing a meeting of te Cabinet Committee on Security in New Delhi on Tuesday

The strike on terror camp comes 12 days after the Pulwama terror attack which left 40 CRPF jawans dead after a Jaish terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar highway on February 14. (Click here for Live updates)

The IAF used Mirage-2000 jets with laser-guided bombs weighing 1,000 pounds at around 3.30am causing an estimated casualty of 200-300 people at multiple targets, sources said.

Watch: ‘Air Force bombed JeM’s biggest camp in Pakistan’: says Foreign Secretary

 

The meeting, underway at the Prime Minister’s residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi, was attended by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, finance minister Arun Jaitley, Union home minister Rajnath Singh, national security advisor Ajit Doval and other senior officials .

Read: Rahul Gandhi, Omar Abdullah react to IAF strike on Jaish camps

This is the second CCS meeting in less than two weeks, the first was on Februray 15, a day after the Pulwama attack.

After that meeting, the Prime Minister had said that the the security forces have been given a “free hand” to deal with the challenges posed by terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Read: Owner of car used in Pulwama attack on the run, NIA says he joined Jaish

“There is much anger among people due to this terror attack. People’s blood is boiling. I understand this. The nation has some expectations at this moment. Emotion is running high to do something, which is natural. The security forces have been given free hand and we have full faith in the bravery of our soldiers,” PM Modi had said in 2016.