Former Pakistani diplomat Agha Hilaly admitted on Saturday that 300 Pakistani terrorists had died in India’s Balakot airstrike in February 2019. Hilaly was talking on a news television show. Hilaly’s admission goes starkly against Pakistani stand that their were zero casualties. Indian Air Force (IAF) had carried out the airstrike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror training camp on February 29, 2019 at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“India crossed the international border and did an act of war in which at least 300 were reported dead. Our target was different from theirs. We targeted their high command. That was our legitimate target because they are men of the military. We subconsciously accepted that a surgical strike — a limited action — did not result in any casualty. Now we have subconsciously told them that, whatever they will do, we`ll do only that much and won`t escalate,” said Agha Hilaly on Pakistani channel as per news agency ANI.
This revelation by the former Pakistan diplomat comes months after the remarks of Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Ayaz Sadiq, who in October 2020, said in the country`s National Assembly that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in an important meeting had pointed out that if Pakistan did not release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, India would attack Pakistan “that night by 9 pm”.
The IAF had carried out Balakot airstrike in response to terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack.
After the Balakot strike, Pakistan has refused to acknowledge the presence of terrorist as a face-saving measure.
(With ANI inputs)
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