News of the day : IAF went for precision strikes in Balakot: official

During the Balakot air strikes, the Indian Air Force (IAF) went in for “clinical precision” and hit the intended targets, a senior defence official said on Thursday.

“The IAF didn’t go in for propaganda bombing. The objective was to hit the targets but avoid collateral damage to possible non-militant staff in adjacent buildings. The munitions were chosen accordingly,” the official said.

In a pre-dawn attack on February 26, 12 IAF Mirage-2000 fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) training camp at Balakot in Pakistan. Of the 12 Mirage-2000s deployed, at least four had crossed the Line of Control (LoC), to varying distances, to release their payloads, the official said.

The IAF used SPICE-2000 precision guided glide bombs, weighing 1,000 kg and having a range of up to 100 km. Most of the bomb consists of penetrators to pierce hardened structures, while the actual explosive is about 90 kg.

‘Images confirm targets were hit’

In the air strikes on the Balakot terror training camp, the Indian Air Force chose its munitions carefully, a senior defence official said on Thursday. “The warhead would not cause total destruction of the buildings hit and neither was this being aimed for,” he said, responding to debates on how effective the strikes had been and the extent of the damage done.

In all, the IAF hit four buildings, two of which were the main training complex and the other a seminary where religious training was imparted. The other two targets include accommodations for the cadres.

The official said there is no question on the capability of the bombs. The radar and high-resolution satellite images show “we have hit the targets.” The buildings were not reinforced structures but conventional structures with metal or cement roofs, and the bomb would have just sliced through inside and only explode after hitting a hard surface.

The IAF had said a PAF F-16 was shot down by a MiG-21 piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in a dogfight as Pakistani jets tried to bomb Indian Army installations on February 27. PAF jets used H4 standoff munitions to target Army positions but they were intercepted and the bombs fell in the open, the official said. “Tail units of the H4 bombs and pieces of AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile) fired by the F-16s were recovered,” he added.

Congress first list for U.P., Gujarat out

The Congress on Thursday announced party president Rahul Gandhi as its candidate from Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli.

The party released its first list of 15 Lok Sabha candidates for Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat after a meeting of its Central Election Committee.

The move, ahead of the official notification by the Election Commission, brings an end to speculation about Ms. Gandhi’s political role after stepping down as party chief in December 2017. For some time, Ms. Gandhi’s health has been a matter of speculation and questions were asked if she would continue as an MP. Speculation also centred on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra replacing her mother in Rae Bareli.

Among the 15 candidates announced, four are from Gujarat and 11 from U.P.. The Congressis the first off the block with candidate list.

In Uttar Pradesh, former Union Ministers and MPs have been named. While Salman Khursid will contest the Farrukhabad seat, R.P.N. Singh has been named from Kushinagar. Jitin Prasad is the candidate for Dhaurahra and Anu Tandon for Unnao.

Former U.P. Congress chief Nirmal Khatri will contest Faizabad and Salim Sherwani Badaun. Imran Masood is the candidate for Saharanpur.

In Gujarat, former Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki has been fielded from Anand, Raju Parmar from Ahmedabad West and Prashant Patel from Vadodara.

Source – The Hindu

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