In an early morning strike that lasted for about 20 minutes, the Indian Air Force is known to have demolished multiple terror camps across the line of control in Pakistan. The IAF's Mirage 2000 fighter jets destroyed a training camp of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel and injured several others.
It has been said that 12 Mirage 2000 jets were a part of the strike and dropped about 1,000-kilogram of laser-guided bombs on terror camps. "At 0330 hours on 26th February, a group of Mirage 2000 Indian Fighter jets struck a major terrorist camp across the LoC and completely destroyed it," ANI reported.
It was only an hour later that Pakistan made a statement, in which it said that the Indian fighters had violated its airspace. The Pakistan military claimed that Indian jet dropped a payload at Balakot, but did not cause any damage. The Pakistan armed forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor went on to say that the army had a "timely and effective" response to the violation, after which the IAF jets "escaped" the region.
"Indian aircrafts intruded from Muzafarabad sector. Facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot. No casualties or damage," he wrote.
While the exact casualty figures haven't been revealed yet, the strike is thought to have killed about 300 terrorists. Meanwhile, there have been no reports of any damage to the Indian jets and the pilots too are said to be safe.
After the news of the strike broke, Twitter has been lauding the IAF and its brave pilots for fearlessly caring out the strike, which has now been tagged as the "Surgical Strike 2." Users have also been praising the quick action against the terrorists and have mocked Pakistan for believing that the Indian jets had to "escape" from the territory. Several users have even called the nation and its armed forces "delusional."
Here are a few Twitter reactions.
India-How's the Jaish?
— Pooja Madan..( Proud of Indian army.?. ) (@Poojamadan17) February 26, 2019
Pakistan- Destroyed Sir!!..#Surgicalstrike2#indianairforce#Balakot pic.twitter.com/imUeyGHYH1
Love my Country. Proud of our PM, Associated Leaders-Officers, Indian Air Force & also proud to be daughter of Air Force Personnel.
— Sonia Agarwal (@Sonia__Agarwal) February 26, 2019
"MERA BHARAT MAHAAN" JAI HIND#PulwamaRevenge#surgicalstrike2 #IndianAirForce pic.twitter.com/naXxOlLLWQ
INDIA celebrating DIWALI NOW. EXCELLENT RETALIATION. WE ARE JUST LOVING IT ???????????? #Surgicalstrike2 pic.twitter.com/8rY9cJ8AAN
— Subba Rao???? (@yessirtns) February 26, 2019
Hows the josh ?#Surgicalstrike2 pic.twitter.com/SNaOQDD0Gu
— sunita kedia ?? (@sunita_kedia) February 26, 2019
Indian air force celebrate diwali like this#SurgicalStrike2 #Balakot @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/ZONoUFIAiG
— tanveer singh (@Tanveer67605465) February 26, 2019
#Surgicalstrike2
— Nikita Namdev Khanvilkar (@NikitaNamdevKh1) February 26, 2019
Well done finally it's happened every Indians feels proud today.
26 Feb 2019 at 3:30 am#PulwamaAttack #Surgicalstrike2 pic.twitter.com/GmXJOxgmQT
How's The Josh????
— PRINCE✈️ (@Myself_Prince_) February 26, 2019
??????#SurgicalStrike2
Jay Hind...
WE ARE PROUD OF YOU INDIAN ARMY... WE SALUTE YOU. ? pic.twitter.com/RwSJtZfrxF
Yes the day started well for India
— ?°•கிருஷிவ்•°? (@DheekshithaG) February 26, 2019
???????
Till now hearing 12 terrorist camps have been destroyed!!!
Let's wait and watch!!!#IndiaStrikesBack#SurgicalStrike2 pic.twitter.com/wEeYdSzQTK
This is New India with the most powerful and confident Leadership
— Kaustubh Sinha (@great_kaustubh) February 26, 2019
We're peace lover but
Don't mess with us
We'll hit back
Hit back Hard!#Surgicalstrike2 pic.twitter.com/72cawJylYi
Several users have also mocked a tweet by the Pakistan Air Force put out last night, which tells its the citizens of the country to "sleep tight because PAF is awake."
And they slept after tweeting this.???? #Surgicalstrike2 #Balakot #indianairforce pic.twitter.com/tXiQvaHpY6
— Aman Sahani (@Aman_sahani007) February 26, 2019