No terror camps exist on locations you shared, come and visit if you want: Pakistan tells India

Month after the gruesome Pulwama attack, Pakistan has blatantly rejected India’s dossier full of proof and said that it has examined 22 "pin locations" shared by India but found no terror camps. The Pakistan foreign office also claimed that there are no links to nail 54 people detained in connection with the Pulwama terror attack as it shared the "preliminary findings" with New Delhi. Islamabad added that it is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations. The Foreign Office said, “While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far.”

"Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations," the FO said. It said that in consistent with its commitment to cooperate, Pakistan on Wednesday shared preliminary findings of its investigations with India along with a set of questions.

India handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with specific details of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)'s complicity in the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel on February 14 and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.  

The Indian Subcontinent has seen one of the most tense period among the two nuclear-armed nations in last one month. India avenged the Pulwama terror attack on February 26 in a pre-dawn air strike in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Though there has been no official confirmation, various reports have claimed that around 300 Jaish terrorists were killed in Balakot air strike.   

India and Pakistan have seen the worst standoff in recent years ever since the Pulwama attack and Indian Air Force’s subsequent air strike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Balakot. For the first time in more than four decades, India went deep inside Pakistan to destroy the terror camp. Though there has been no official statement on number of casualties, several reports have said that the number of terrorists killed in Balakot terror camps can range from anywhere between 250 to 300.  

Latest media reports by two news channels have revealed how Islamabad tried to get rid of the terrorists’ bodies after the Indian Air Force air strike on the terror camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammed. According to Republic TV, an eyewitness have come forward and talked extensively about the way authorities across the border tried to doctor the site. Bodies of some terrorists were thrown in river while others were set on fire.

Meanwhile, Times Now, another news channel ha also aired some incriminating details about the Balakot air strike. According to the news channel, 263 terrorists had gathered at the terror camp. These terrorists were categorised according to a strict hierarchy, the channel reported. 18 senior Jaish commanders were present at Balakot facility to train the terror recruits. While 83 terrorists had assembled for Daura-e-Aam — the beginners’ training course, 91 terrorists had assembled for Daura-e-Khas — advanced training, the channel reported.

(With inputs from PTI)