New Delhi: The Balakot-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp destroyed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) Tuesday was used for ‘battle inoculation’ and its trainers were retired officers of the Pakistan Army, government sources said here Tuesday.
The same sources also said that the main man behind the hijacking of the IC-814 Indian Airlines aircraft in 1999, Azhar Yousuf has also been killed in the attack. He had been wanted by the CBI in the hijacking that led to the released JeM mastermind Masood Azhar. However, there was no official confirmation regarding this news but many said justice finally caught up with the man behind the hijacking. Yousouf incidentally is the brother-in-law of Masood.
The same sources also pointed out that Masood’s elder brother Ibrahim and cousin Talha Saif were also killed in the attack. However, with this being termed a ‘covert operation’ there were no official confirmation regarding the deaths.
Located on the banks of Kunhar river in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, the camp was also used by another terror group Hizbul Mujahideen.
The sources said at least 325 terrorists and 25 to 27 trainers were at the camp at the time of the attack. The camp also offered aquatic training to its inmates, the sources added.
The camp, located 20 km from the Balakot town, was an important training centre for the JeM. All the top JeM leaders including Masood Azhar used to frequent the camp on a regular basis to deliver ‘inspirational lectures’.
In the Balakot camp, the terrorists were imparted the advanced ‘Daura-e-Khaas’ training in weapons, explosives and field tactics, attack on convoys of security forces, planting and making of IEDs, suicide bombing, rigging vehicles for suicide attacks and survival tactics in high altitudes and extreme-stress situations, the sources said.
PTI