Dozens of terrorists including former ISI agents were killed in IAF airstrikes: An Italian journalist exposes Pakistan’s lies on Balakot
   02-Mar-2019

 
 
An Italian journalist Francesca Marino covered a story on the recent IAF airstrikes on the terrorist-heaven in Pakistan. In her story, she exposed the lies that Pakistan wanted to hide from the entire world. She mentioned that according to the eyewitnesses present at the site of February 26 airstrikes in Balakot stated that the Jaish-e-Mohammad base camp was aptly hit by the strikes and they saw over 35 bodies being transported through ambulances after the attack. The eyewitness added that the dead included 12 men, who were said to have been sleeping in a single temporary shack, and several former agents of Pakistan’s ISI.
 

 
 
Marino mentioned that the sources are working for local government authorities and do not want their identity to be disclosed lest they might face reprisal. "Local authorities reached the site soon after the bombing," one witness said, "but the area had already been cordoned off by then by the army, who did not even allow police to enter. The army also took away mobile phones from the medical staff on the ambulances."
 

 
 
The sources said a former ISI officer, who was locally known as "Colonel Salim" was killed in these airstrikes whereas one "Colonel Zarar Zakri" was injured. Mufti Moeen and Usman Ghani, both Jaish terrorists, were killed in the airstrikes. The former was an instructor and the latter was an improvised explosive device-fabrication expert. The single largest causality was twelve Jaish terrorists, who were taking training in fidayeen attack were also killed in this bombing.
 

 
 
Divergent claims on the causalities
 
Marino mentioned that the information of eyewitnesses is also divergent as some said no Jaish terrorist was killed whereas others said the terrorists were indeed present at the site of airstrike at Jaba top. The eyewitnesses said that the media outlets were not allowed at the site of airstrikes, hence, it is difficult to get the exact number of causalities but the killing of terrorists cannot be ruled out. Quoting the IAF officials Marino mentioned that the synthetic aperture radar — which provides finer spatial resolution than conventional beam-scanning radar — shows that the airstrike destroyed four target buildings, below the ridge. There were several buildings occupied by Jaish-e-Muhammad, including a seminary that was also destroyed to ashes in these airstrikes. Though Pakistan refutes the claim of India that any terrorist was killed in the airstrike yet finding the names of Usman and Colonel Salim in the mentioning of the eyewitness corroborate the claims of India.
 

 
 
Jaba top seminary was the prime target of airstrikes
 
Marino mentioned that on the basis of the input from Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) it was decided that the Jaba top seminary would be the target of the airstrikes. It was informed by RAW that the Jaish terrorists were relocated from Line of Control (LOC) to Jaba top after the growing apprehension of Indian Army retaliation in response to the Pulwama attack. A senior intelligence official said there is no doubt that the bombs hit the target and serve the purpose of making a point of about our ability to strike at terrorist safe-havens, rather than extract revenge.
 

 
 
Earlier strikes had less effect on the terrorist target because the personnel at terror training facilities were generally smaller in number and used to get dispersed immediately. This is the similar problem that the United States faced in 1998 when it fired 75 cruise missiles at Al-Qaeda’s Zhawar Kili in response to the Al-Qaeda’s bombing in American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in the same year. Only a dozen or less terrorists were killed in it. But the precise airstrikes of Indian Air Force on February 26 has a much larger impact.
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