Balakot Airstrikes: Four years ago, on the morning of February 26, 2019, the world woke up to witness a rather different face of India that went on to change the diplomatic discourse towards the country. India, which was known to be rather defensive in its approach, took a step ahead to teach a lesson to terror-breeder Pakistan. 

On Feb 26, 2019, Indian Air Force destroyed the hideouts of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad avenging the killing of 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. 

Here’s The Story Of Balakot Airstrikes 

What Led To The Airstrike? 

The airstrike of February 26 took place because of an attack carried out by JeM terrorists on February 14, 2019. It was the biggest attack in Jammu and Kashmir where a CRPF convoy was attacked with an IED bomb in Awantipora, Pulwama. 

In the attack, 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the line of duty. The terror outfit JeM later took responsibility for the attack. The Balakot airstrike was carried out to avenge this attack. 

How Was It Carried Out? 

The operation to avenge the deaths of the martyred CRPF soldiers was planned in a completely confidential manner. The then Chief of IAF, RKS Bhadauria had decided the date for the operation to be February 26 as Army’s Aero India Show was supposed to conclude and the foreign delegations in the country were supposed to leave this day. The codeword for this operation was ‘Bandar’. 

After getting necessary instructions from the authorities, the Indian Air Force along with 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets, crossed the border at around 3:30 AM on February 26, 2019, and attacked Balakot in Pakistan by dropping bombs on the terrorists’ hideouts.  

While Mirage 2000 jets were used to drop bombs on sites, a set of other combat aircraft comprising Mirages with Su-30MKI were tasked to keep the Pakistan air force planes away from the site of action.

Indian Airforce pilots dropped Spice 2000 bombs from the fighter jets. As per WION, a team of IAF’s commando unit, Garud, was also kept on standby for any kind of operations that may have been required due to any kind of an emergency there.

 Terrorist Outfits Destroyed 

There were several hideouts of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed where the bombs were dropped. The Indian Air Force destroyed all the bases with an airstrike. Around 500 terrorists were reported to be at the bases at the time of the attack. 

Secrecy Was Maintained Throughout 

During the planning of this operation, complete secrecy was maintained. According to an official associated with the planning, during this time, the mobile phones of the officers were deposited. All the conversations were done face to face. 

After The Airstrikes

The Pakistani Air Force (PAF) retaliated the next day with a strike in Jammu’s Rajouri sector. During an aerial battle between Indian and Pakistani airforces, India shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter plane while losing a MIG-21 Bison. The pilot of MIG-21 Bison, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistan after he ejected himself over Paksitan’s territory after his jet got hit in the faceoff.

Abhinandan was released a day later after dramatic diplomatic talks between the two nations. On Independence Day, Abhinandan was awarded the gallantry medal Vir Chakra.