Intelligence vetting of the post-strike damage assessment puts the final tally of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists killed in India’s daring pre-dawn air strike at Balakot on February 26 at 263. “The damage to the terrorist training camp was substantiated by very high resolution synthetic aperture radar satellite imagery provided by a friendly country,” a highly-placed source disclosed to SP’s. India has not put out that imagery in the public domain to honour the friendly country’s request, as the publication of that imagery would reveal its satellite surveillance capability to rivals.

India has not put out that imagery in the public domain to honour the friendly country’s request, as the publication of that imagery would reveal its satellite surveillance capability to rivals

India’s limitations in publicly establishing post-strike damage had appeared to detract from a landmark punitive air strike inside Pakistan in response to the killing of 40 central police troopers in a terrorist attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad took responsibility for the killings.

Even as it quarantined the Balakot camp for one-and-a-half months, Pakistan denied that anybody was killed in India’s February 26 air strike. The Balkot imagery captured by the electro-optic sensors on an Indian satellite put out in the public domain was perhaps not as compelling as the far more detailed visuals provided by the foreign satellite.

“The message in the air strike was to the Pakistani Deep State. That message has been delivered loud and clear. It conveys to Pakistan in very clear terms, and in a vocabulary that it understands, that cross-border terrorist attacks will invite a punitive military response from India,” the top official said, while playing down the scepticism in some quarters over Indian claims.

India’s limitations in publicly establishing post-strike damage had appeared to detract from a landmark punitive air strike inside Pakistan in response to the killing of 40 central police troopers in a terrorist attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad took responsibility for the killings.

Because of bad weather, the Indian Air Force (IAF) could not launch the Crystal Maze missile which could have provided the live imagery for the Balakot air strike. This enabled Pakistan to create the ‘fog of war’.

Very detailed intelligence inputs had disclosed the Balakot layout in great detail ahead of the air strike. “There was great clarity about our targets. There was even detail which we did not need, like US and Israeli flags painted on the floor of the hostel for terrorists, which was our main target,” the official disclosed. The timing of the attack (0300 hrs, Pakistan time) too was determined by intelligence inputs about the activities in the terrorist camp.

“Three Spice bombs hit the main target within a space of one metre ,” he said. “One of the targets was the dwelling of the brother-in-law of Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar. He has not been seen after the air strike to contradict our claim,” he added. A total of 5 Spice bombs were released by a pack of IAF Mirage 2000 aircraft at three targets in Balakot.

SP Guide Publications