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Indian airstrikes on a 'terror camp' which sparked threats of a new war with Pakistan did not damage the madrasas they targeted, satellite photos reveal
Mailonline17:51 GMT 06 Mar 2019, updated 19:57 GMT 06 Mar 2019
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The high-resolution photos were taken by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based satellite operator, and show at least six buildings on the site of the school, known as a madrasa.
The photos were taken on March 4, six days after the airstrike that Indian authorities claimed killed around 300 militants.
They cast further doubt on statements from the Indian government that the raids, early on February 26, had hit all intended targets at the site near Jaba village and the town of Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
+5
The high-resolution satellite photos show a close-up of the madrasa site in northeastern Pakistan and were taken on March 4
Until now, no high-resolution satellite images of the madrasa's site were publicly available.
But the photos from Planet Labs, which show details as small as 72 cm, have revealed the structures the Indian government said it had attacked.
+5
The site appears to be undamaged despite India claiming that its airstrikes had hit all targets on February 26
The image is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the same facility.
The buildings appear undamaged and there are no signs of scorching, blown-out walls or even displaced trees around the area.
According to Reuters, India's foreign and defence ministries have yet to comment on the satellite images which raise fresh doubts about the attack.
The air strike near Balakot, a town 30 miles (50km) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971.
+5
The newly released images are virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the same facility
India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at the time that 'a very large number' of militants were killed in the strikes in northeast Pakistan.
'The existence of such training facilities, capable of training hundreds of jihadis, could not have functioned without the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities,' Gokhale said. Pakistan denies harbouring JeM.
Pakistani officials dismissed the claims, saying the Indian aircraft had dropped their bombs in a wooded area, causing no damage or casualties.
+5
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Air Force after they retaliated to India's attack
Villagers near the town of Balakot were shaken from their sleep by the air strikes.
They said only one person was wounded in the attack and they knew of no fatalities.
In response, Pakistan launched its own raid across the Line of Control which sparked a dogfight that ended in the capture of an Indian pilot.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was later returned to India by Pakistan as a peace gesture.
Mailonline17:51 GMT 06 Mar 2019, updated 19:57 GMT 06 Mar 2019
+5
- New satellite photos reveal school belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad still stands
- The Indian government previously claimed they had hit the site with an airstrike
- But new photos, taken six days after the attack, show the building undamaged
- Pakistan claims that the strike in its territory failed to hit or kill any extremists
The high-resolution photos were taken by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based satellite operator, and show at least six buildings on the site of the school, known as a madrasa.
The photos were taken on March 4, six days after the airstrike that Indian authorities claimed killed around 300 militants.
They cast further doubt on statements from the Indian government that the raids, early on February 26, had hit all intended targets at the site near Jaba village and the town of Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
+5
The high-resolution satellite photos show a close-up of the madrasa site in northeastern Pakistan and were taken on March 4
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Until now, no high-resolution satellite images of the madrasa's site were publicly available.
But the photos from Planet Labs, which show details as small as 72 cm, have revealed the structures the Indian government said it had attacked.
+5
The site appears to be undamaged despite India claiming that its airstrikes had hit all targets on February 26
The image is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the same facility.
The buildings appear undamaged and there are no signs of scorching, blown-out walls or even displaced trees around the area.
According to Reuters, India's foreign and defence ministries have yet to comment on the satellite images which raise fresh doubts about the attack.
The air strike near Balakot, a town 30 miles (50km) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971.
+5
The newly released images are virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the same facility
India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at the time that 'a very large number' of militants were killed in the strikes in northeast Pakistan.
'The existence of such training facilities, capable of training hundreds of jihadis, could not have functioned without the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities,' Gokhale said. Pakistan denies harbouring JeM.
Pakistani officials dismissed the claims, saying the Indian aircraft had dropped their bombs in a wooded area, causing no damage or casualties.
+5
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Air Force after they retaliated to India's attack
Villagers near the town of Balakot were shaken from their sleep by the air strikes.
They said only one person was wounded in the attack and they knew of no fatalities.
In response, Pakistan launched its own raid across the Line of Control which sparked a dogfight that ended in the capture of an Indian pilot.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was later returned to India by Pakistan as a peace gesture.
). The 'holes' found by the respected trying-to-justify-his-personal-theories Retd. Col. are most probably tin patches to repair the roof over the course of a year.
