Pak prevents media access to Balakot, buttresses India claims

NEW DELHI:In what buttresses Indian claims and counters Pakistan claims on airstrikes on Balakot, the international media has yet again been prevented from visiting the site by Pakistan, leading to questions on the veracity of previous reports about “targets not being hit” and that there was no “visible damage” to structures.

A Pakistan army man stands guard in the area. Reuters

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 8

In what buttresses Indian claims and counters Pakistan claims on airstrikes on Balakot, the international media has yet again been prevented from visiting the site by Pakistan, leading to questions on the veracity of previous reports about “targets not being hit” and that there was no “visible damage” to structures.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) had hit at a major Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp at Balakot in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on February 26 and has always maintained that its missiles hit the desired target and there was “definite” evidence.

Sources said fresh media reports originating from Pakistan were now clear that earlier media reports from the neighbouring country decrying and doubting IAF airstrikes were not correct.

The IAF has maintained that its missiles penetrate through the roof and the warhead detonates subsequently, causing damage to people present inside. The roof may not collapse and the “blast wave” can very well go out of the doors and windows, which are weaker structures as compared to the roof.

News agency Reuters has now said that its team was “prevented from climbing a hill in north-eastern Pakistan to the site of a madrasa (the JeM terror camp) and a group of surrounding buildings that were targeted by Indian warplanes last week”.

This, the news agency said, was the third time in nine days that its reporters have visited the area — and each time the path was blocked. The team could view the madrasa (JeM terror training camp) from 100 metres away and only from below, the report said.

“The building that reporters could see was surrounded by undamaged pine trees, and did not show any signs of damage or activity, but given the view, the assessment is very limited.”

In Islamabad, the military’s press wing — Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) — has twice called off visits to the site for weather and organisational reasons.

The Reuters said on previous visits, a number of residents had said the madrasa (terror camp) was run by JeM. A sign with the group's name had previously stood near the site, but was later removed.