India destroys JeM terror camps: Where exactly is Balakot?

Indian Air Force on Tuesday conducted air strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) reportedly killing over 200-300 terrorists. This was in response to the attack earlier this month on CRPF jawans in Pulwama which left over 40 Indian army personnel dead.

Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the Indian Air Force had violated the Line of Control. "Indian aircrafts intruded from Muzzafarabad sector. Facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot. No casualties or damage," he tweeted.

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The mention of Balakot in Ghafoor's tweet to led to some confusion because there are two areas with the same name in PoK. In fact, former CM of Jammu & Kashmir Omar Abdullah gave an insight into both the areas in his tweet.

If this is Balakote in KPK it's a major incursion & a significant strike by IAF planes. However if it's Balakote in Poonch sector, along the LoC it's a largely symbolic strike because at this time of the year forward launch pads & militant camps are empty & non-functional.

- Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 26, 2019

However, Ghafoor's tweet with reference to Muzzafarabad seems to be indicative that the Balakot that the Indian Air Force targeted was the one deep within the PoK and not the one in Poonch sector that Abdullah highlighted in his tweet. The Balakot that has been attacked is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Balakot is around 190 km away from Pakistan's capital Islamabad and is infamous for having several terror training camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed. The area falls about 50 km from the LoC and 81 km away from Uri, Jammu and Kashmir.

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(Edited by Vivek Dubey)

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