The Pakistan Army on Tuesday alleged that the Indian Air Force violated the Line of Control (LoC) in Muzaffarabad sector.
"Indian Air Force violated Line of Control Pakistan. Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled. Indian aircraft went back," Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said in a tweet.
There has been no immediate response from India.
The allegation came 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.
Here are the developments on the strike so far:
- Indian Air Force has been put on high alert all air defence systems along the international border and Line of Control (LoC) to respond to any possible action by Pakistan air force.
- Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that India has carried out a misadventure against Pakistan. He called the strike a sign of "grave aggression" and a violation of the Line of Control. Qureshi has said Pakistan reserves the right to self defence.
- Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale addressed Press conference confirming the Balakot attack by the Indian Air Force. He said the air strike was a non-military pre-emptive action. "It was also selected to avoid civilian casualties. It is in a thickly forested area," he added. Giving further details, the Foreign Secretary said that India has struck the biggest camp of JeM in this attack. Credible information was received that JeM was attempting other attacks in the country.
- Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned New Delhi not to challenge Islamabad and said that better sense should prevail in India, Radio Pakistan reported. The foreign minister said Pakistan should not be worried over the Indian act as the defenders of the country are fully prepared to respond to any misadventure.
- China, Pakistan Foreign Ministers hold a telephonic conversation over India's air strikes, said XINHUA, the state-run press agency of the China.
- Pakistani F16s were scrambled to retaliate against IAF Mirage 2000s but turned back due to the size of Indian formation. Western Air Command coordinated the operation.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier chaired a high-level CCS meeting in New Delhi along with Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman and Arun Jaitley.
- The local administration and police in districts adjacent to Indo-Pak border in Punjab have been asked to stay on high alert.
- The attack took place in Balakot, a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, which is about 50 km (31 miles) from the Line of Control (LoC), which acts as a de facto border between the two countries that have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
- The operation, which dropped nearly 1000 kgs of laser-guided bombs, lasted for about 20 minutes. The last time IAF crossed the LoC and used Mirage jets was during the 1971 war.
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