Islamabad: Residents in the quake-prone Balakot town in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province Tuesday said they were woken by “loud explosions” and thought a fresh tremor must have hit the region when Indian Air Force jets pounded a large terror training camp.
Balakot town in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was destroyed during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and was rebuilt with assistance from Saudi Arabia.
Residents in the mountainous area town told BBC Urdu they were woken by loud explosions.
Residents in several towns near Balakot reported hearing explosions early on Tuesday.
Mohammad Adil, a farmer in Jaba village, said he and his family were woken at about 03:00 by “a huge explosion”.
He said they thought an earth quake must have hit the region.
“Then we heard jets flying over. We went to the place in the morning. There was a huge crater and four or five houses were destroyed,” he said.
In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest training camp in Pakistan early Tuesday, killing up to 350 terrorists and trainers who were moved there for their protection after the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.
The pre-dawn operation, described as “non-military” and “preemptive”, struck a five-star resort style camp on a hilltop forest.
Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor, however, said the strikes caused no casualties. He tweeted that Pakistani jets were scrambled and forced the Indian fighter planes to make a “hasty withdrawal”, dropping their payload in an open area.
Also read: Indian TV news feels the ‘josh’ of airstrikes, Pak media takes forest cover
While the sleeping residents of Balakot were rudely jolted awake from their deep slumber by what they felt was a EARTHQUAKE, it is highly amusing and interesting to note that Senior Pakistan ministers were at pains initially to 1. TOTALLY deny that a raid ever took place 2. that Indian planes came only 4 to 5 kms inside their territory (actually, it was SEVENTY KMs). 3. that they were ‘chased away’ by the Pakistani Air Force 4. that the IAF dropped their “Fuel” (not Bombs) on a small area, completely devoid of humans 5. and that ONLY FOUR TREES were hit. Every single ‘explanation’ contradicts every other statement; made by Pakistan’s top MINISTERS, no less. Are they SO devoid of any shame and sense? Perhaps, their comical plight will only be complete when the Indian authorities release ‘actual’ evidence of the raid and its results.