Balakot impact: Pakistan Army using low calibre weapons in ceasefire violations at LoC

The impact of the Indian Air Force’s daring non-military airstrikes inside Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Balakot is now visible or rather audible on the Line of Control. Latest media report suggest that Pakistan has been forced to used low-calibre weapons during the cross-border firing. According to a report by the Indian Express, the Pakistan Army has been avoiding using big guns during the ceasefire violations. The report said that the use of artillery guns has seen a sharp decline. Not just the high-calibre weapons, the overall ceasefire violations have also seen a major drop.

On the intervening night of 25 and 26 February, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out air strikes across the LoC at around 3:30 am. According to reports, 12 Mirage 2000 Indian Fighter jets dropped 1,000 kg bombs, destroying several Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) training camps across the Line of Control (LoC). The strike came in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in which a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based JeM rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, killing 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

Rattled by the Balakot airstrikes, terror groups operating in Pakistan have shifted to neighbouring Afghanistan. Members of terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have been shifted to Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Kandahar provinces of Afghanistan months after the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) aircraft their camps in Pakistan’s Balakot, according to a report.

According to HT, which claimed to reviewed documents, both the Pakistan-based terror groups have joined hands with the Afghan Taliban and Afghan insurgent group, Haqqani Network for training their cadre.

Last month, Pakistan was given October deadline to improve its counter-terror financing operations in line with an internationally agreed action plan or face actions against it, said the FATF. The Financial Action Task Force said it was concerned that Pakistan had failed to complete the action plan first by a January deadline and then again by a May deadline.