IAF marks 2nd anniversary of Balakot Op
Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria flies a Mirage 2000, the aircraft that was used for bombing Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) targets in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019, on the occasion of its second anniversary on Saturday.
To mark the two-year anniversary of the Balakot strike, pilots of the squadron who carried out the operation held a long-range precision strike against a practice target. Indian Air Force (IAF) chief R.K.S. Bhadauria on Saturday flew in a Mirage 2000, part of a multi-aircraft sortie, with the same squadron pilots. The five-aircraft formation consisted of Mirage 2000s and Sukhoi30 fighters.
A few days back, IAF carried out a long-range precision strike against a practice target to mark the second anniversary of the Balakot operations. The strike was carried out by members of the same squadron who carried out the actual operations.
On February 26, 2019, some 20 IAF Mirage 2000 took part in the pre-dawn strike at Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) major camp at Balakot by crossing LoC. Some six Israel made precision-guided SPICE bomb of 1000 kg were dropped on the camp. The attack was in response to a terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on 14th February in which 40 soldiers were killed.
The entire IAF operation had taken over 20 minutes, starting at 3.45 am and ending at 4.05 am. This was the first time since the 1971 war that India has used air power against Pakistan. Even during the Kargil war, IAF had not crossed the LoC.
The Balakot attack was significant as it is not in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This signalled India’s willingness to strike even assets inside Pakistan.