No Pakistani soldier or citizen died in Balakot air strike, admits Sushma Swaraj

AHMEDABAD: External Affairs Minister and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said no Pakistani soldier or citizen died in the air strike carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) across the border in response to the Pulwama terror attack in February.

Addressing women party workers here, she stressed on a 2014-like full majority BJP-led government this time also, saying former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee could not do everything which he wanted to because he was heading a coalition administration. The IAF had struck a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot area on February 26, in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, reported Times of India.

Swaraj said the air strike was carried out in self-defence. "When we carried out air strike across the border after the Pulwama terror attack, we had told the international community that we took that step in self-defence only. We had told the international community that the armed forces were instructed not to harm any Pakistani citizen or its soldier during the strike," she said.

"The army was told to target only the terror camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which had taken the responsibility for the Pulwama attack. And, our army did the same without harmingany Pakistani citizen or soldier," said Swaraj.

DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor has said finally the Indian Minister of External Affairs revealed the truth about Balakot airstrike under compulsions of ground reality. Reacting to statement of Indian External Minister Sushma Swaraj statement in tweet today (Thursday), he said hopefully other false Indian claims of 2016 surgical strikes, denial of shooting down of two Indian Air Force jets by Pakistan Air Force and claim about downing of Pakistan Air Force F16 will be exposed.