Indian claims of major destruction exposed by Balakot residents

BALAKOT: Residents of Balakot, where India claims to have carried out a strike early Tuesday, disputed reports of major destruction. According to reports, one person was injured.

Muhammad Ajmal, who visited the site, in a video clip released to BBC Urdu said, “We saw trees fallen down, one house damaged and four craters where the bombs had fallen."

Another area resident, Murad said no loss of life had taken place. “The stones of a mud house fell due to the noise of the explosions. Four or five trees have been broken at the site. Indian media is just doing propaganda”.

Indian military aircraft violated the LoC as they "intruded" from the Muzaffarabad sector and were forced to return owing to the timely response of the Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said early Tuesday.

"Indian aircraft intrusion across LoC in Muzafarabad Sector within AJK was 3-4 miles. Under forced hasty withdrawal aircraft released payload which had free fall in open area. No infrastructure got hit, no casualties. Technical details and other important information to follow," Major General Ghafoor wrote on Twitter.

He also tweeted images of the "payload of hastily escaping Indian aircraft" which "fell in [the] open".

Exclusive pictures and video obtained by Geo News also showed no major destruction, apart from a few burnt trees.

A meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected Indian claims of targeting an alleged terrorist camp near Balakot. A handout released following the meeting said the claimed area of strike was open for the world to see the facts on ground, adding that domestic and international media would be taken to the impact side.

The National Security Council concluded that Pakistan shall respond to Indian aggression at the time and place of its choosing.