12 IAF jets drop 1,000kg bombs on terror camps in Pak: Sources

The IAF jets pounded terror camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti in the well-planned strike.

Indian Air Force carried out a pre-dawn air strikes on terror camps across the Line Control in the Pakistani side, 12 days after Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir, government sources said.

They said the IAF jets pounded terror camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti in the well-planned strike involving a fleet of IAF jets and other military jets.

"12 Mirage 2000 jets took part in the operation that dropped 1000 kg bombs on terror camps across LoC, completely destroying them," ANI reported quoting IAF sources.

The air strike was carried around 3:30 am, the sources said.

There is no official word on the attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the operation.

Hours later, Prime Minister Modi chaired a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security which was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Sitharaman.

The extent of the damage inflicted on the ground is not immediately known but the sources claimed the Pakistani side sustained significant losses.

In Islamabad, the Pakistan Army alleged that the Indian Air Force violated the Line of Control (LoC) in Muzafarabad sector.

"Indian aircraft intruded from Muzafarabad sector. Facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot. No casualties or damage," Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a tweet.

"Indian Air Force violated Line of Control Pakistan. Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled. Indian aircraft gone back," he tweeted.

The development comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the February 14 suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

With inputs from ANI