JeM Acknowledges Balakot Air Strike; Hear Him Vow More Suicide Attacks In India

New Delhi: Despite Pakistan’s denial, terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has acknowledged that their centre in Balakot was attacked by the Indian Air Force.

The centre is considered the biggest terror producing factory in the country and is run by Masood Azhar, the brain behind the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans.

An audio tape obtained by news portal First Post is a piece of clinching evidence that the Balakot madrassa was attacked by IAF jets.

In this tape, Maulana Ammar, brother of Azhar is purportedly heard saying “India has declared war. They entered Pakistan territory and bombed the madrassa at Balakot. Indian Air Force did not bomb any agency or its headquarters, but the seminary where recruits are trained for jihad in Kashmir. By attacking our seminary, India has provoked us to relaunch our jihad.” 

The audio, however, makes it clear that Ammar is still alive contrary to what the India media had claimed following the air strike.

Ammar, who heads the JeM’s operations in Afghanistan and Kashmir, was last seen in Peshawar in December 2018, where he vowed to continue attacks against USA and India, First Post said quoting reports.

He has vowed to teach India a lesson following the Balakot bombing. At a meeting, he called upon the JeM terrorists to launch suicide attacks and condemned Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to release IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.

“There was a Niazi who gave away half the land and 90,000 soldiers and now today’s Niazi (Imran) has surrendered before the enemy and by ensuring the return of Indian pilot has lost the battle,” Ammar purportedly said on the tape.

The tape indicates the IAF strike dealt a severe blow to JeM and its leadership and the outfit is no longer able to run its recruitment and training drive and is shifting base.

While Pakistan has remained silent about the Balakot terror training facility, it has admitted to the presence of Masood Azhar inside the country. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also said in an interview that the government was in touch with him. His admission in itself is a vindication of India’s long-stated position that Pakistan was harbouring state-sponsored terrorism.