New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) When India decided to raise the bar after the Pulwama attack, Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan was on the radar of Indian intelligence agencies for being a hub of Jaish-e-Mohammad.
Intelligence agencies were sure that the Pulwama attack was also planned in Balakot where even Masood Azhar’s son Abdullah had undergone terror training and so had Pulwama attack mastermind Ghazi.
The location of Balakot is away from the LoC which made it a safe heaven for terrorist training. Even the Border Action Teams (BATs) of Pakistan army regulars, who carry out cross-border raids on Indian patrols on LoC, are trained in Balakot.
There was an element of deception before carrying out the strike as the focus of Indian response was given away as JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur. The Pakistani agencies were busy protecting Bahwalpur but the attack centred on Balakot.
There has been no report of any activities in the area following the air strike and the Indian agencies have not picked up any radio chatter about movement of forces.
–IANS
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