‘Wait for our response,’ says Pakistan Army after India’s Balakot air strike

Hours after Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force pounded the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s terror camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Balakot at 3:30 am on Tuesday, the Pakistan Army today said that New Delhi must be ready for its response. “Wait for our response, we will surprise you,” said Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said. However, Spokesperson of the Pakistan armed forces admitted that Indian fighter jets remained in its airspace. He also said that all political parties remained united and that the civilian government has given nod to an ‘appropriate attack.’

Questioning the duration Indian Air Force’s mission, Maj Gen Ghafoor said, “Let India come and stay in Pakistani airspace for 21 minutes. We will see what will happen next.” "Not even a single brick or debris is present there. They are claiming 350 deaths. Even had there been 10 casualties, there would be blood, funeral prayers, injuries," the spokesperson added.

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On reports of 350 casualties in the ‘Surgical Strike,’ the spokesperson said that, “the Indian forces flew away after dropping four bombs inside Pakistan's territorial space. The Indian forces wanted to target the civilian areas."

As the National Assembly session resumed today, Pakistani opposition leaders demanded that a joint parliamentary session be summoned. Later, Pakistan’s National Security Council (NSC) held a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. “We are in a state of war. The Parliament should sit together and decide,” Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Khursheed Shah said. Stating that “India wishes to exploit our internal differences and attack us,” Shah said, “We have to show to India and the world that the entire nation is united.”

The strike comes after reports that Pakistan is shifting terrorist leaders, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, to safe areas after India demanded of strong action against them following the Pulwama attack on February 14, sources said. The sources added that on February 17-18, Azhar was shifted from Rawalpindi to Kot Ghani near Bahawalpur in Pakistan.