In a stunning revelation, former Pakistani diplomat Agha Hilaly admitted on a news television show that 300 terrorists had died in the Balakot airstrike on 25 February 2019.
“India crossed the international border and did an act of war in which at least 300 were reported dead. Our target was different from theirs. We targeted their high command. That was our legitimate target because they are men of the military. We subconsciously accepted that a surgical strike—a limited action—did not result in any casualty. Now we have subconsciously told them that, whatever they will do, we’ll do only that much and won’t escalate,” said Agha Hilaly.
Hilaly was speaking during a debate on a Pakistani Urdu channel. This flies in the face against the zero casualties claim made by Pakistan repeatedly since.
The air strike was in response to the brutal bombing against CRPF troopers in Pulwama which killed 40 and stunned the nation. Jaish owned up to the deadly strike and in bold retaliation, Indian Air Force jets attacked launch pads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwala.
The statement comes months after a Pakistani minister admitted the Imran Khan government’s role in the Pulwama attack in February 2019.