Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp in Balakot site hit by the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter planes appears to be still standing with no visible damage.
On the day of the Air Strike carried by India Air Force, India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that it had killed “a very large number of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, trainers, senior commanders, and groups of jihadi.”
The Pakistani security officials denied access to the site citing “security concerns”. The security officials also refuted the reports of casualties or damage to the site ever since the Indian Air Force carried out the attack on Feb. 26.
However, the Reuters team managed to view the madrasa from 100 metres away. The building was surrounded by undamaged pine trees and did not seem to be damaged. However, given the view, the estimation is very limited.
According to the Reuters, as per high-resolution satellite images “There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack.”
“The images cast further doubt on statements made over the last couple of weeks by the Indian government that the raids, early on Feb 26, had hit all the intended targets at the madrasa site near Jaba village and the town of Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.”
Villagers told Reuters that the school was no longer operational. “It was shut down in June last year,” said one. of the villagers. Another man, Mohammad Naseem, said there were madrasas in the area, opened during the rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, but “there is no madrasa or anything like that here anymore”.