Balakot Air Strike: Jaish-e-Mohammed confirms attack on terror camp, Pakistan refutes

New Delhi : Contradicting Pakistan's claims that none of the air strike happened on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot, an audio clip has emerged where a senior leader of the terror outfit confirms significant damage by the Indian fighter jets.

Pakistan claimed that India's operation struck a patch of trees and no terror camp has been located by the planes.

In the audio message, the voice of Maulana Ammar, who has been identified as the brother of JeM founder Masood Azhar, can be heard. The message was first tweeted by a Pakistani journalist and later it was verified by the Indian security agencies.

“The enemy announced a war by crossing its borders to enter an Islamic country and launching bombs on Muslim schools. So, raise your weapons and show them if jihad is still an obligation or a duty,” the man is hearing saying in the recording, which officials believe was made two days after the Balakot air strike and played out as an address to militants at the Madrassah Sanan bin Salma in Peshawar.

“Let me remind you that the Indian aircrafts did not bomb the safe house of any agency, they didn’t attack any headquarters, they didn’t attack the meeting points of agencies (JeM), they attacked the schools where students were being trained to understand jihad better and vowed to help “oppressed” Kashmiris. By entering our territories and attacking our schools, India has ensured the beginning of jihad against them,” he said.

A senior Indian security agency official said the address was a “clear confirmation of the effectiveness of the airstrikes”. “The tone and tenor of the message also indicate that the strikes have hit the group hard forcing a senior functionary to issue a message to their cadre,” this official said, asking not to be named.