In a major development, Times Now has reportedly learned that a total of 263 terrorists had assembled in the terror camp in Balakot days before it was bombed by the IAF. As per the Times Now report, the presence of 263 terrorists at the Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) terror camp had been established by the Indian intelligence agencies. Times Now has claimed to have learnt that 18 senior commanders of the terror outfit were present at the Balakot terror training camp to train the recruits. Another 83 terrorists had gathered for Daura-e-Aam — the beginners’ training course. Moreover, 91 terrorists had assembled for Daura-e-Khas — advanced training. It is important to mention here that 25 terrorists had been selected for special training as fidayeens. It is very much possible that Pakistan-sponsored terror outfit, Jaish e Mohammed might have been planning suicide terror attacks similar to the Pulwama terror attack.
It must be noted that Republic has also published a transcript of the audio tape which gives an insider account of the devastation caused by the Balakot airstrike. It states the names of the terrorists killed, “In the recent strike by the Indian forces in Balakot, whoever was targeted, I know almost all of them. Most of those who have been killed are linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed. Almost all those who have been killed are from Jaish-e-Mohammed, almost all of them. I’m going to share some of their names, please keep them in mind. Mainshah Abdar Zak, Lahore’s Major Retd Havar Rana, Altaf Ali Chaudhary from Karachi, Mudassar Ali from Rawalpindi, Ustad Mohsin from Bahawalpur, Datta Khel’s Tafail Dost. Two brothers from Dhannu Ali Khatak and Bahadur Khatak. There were two brothers who have been killed. A top commander of Jaish from Gujranwala has been killed. He was a crucial Jaish leader. Software expert Rana Mohsin Ali, Mianwali’s Tafiq Umar, Moin Ali, Sardar Suhail, Dera Ghazi Khan’s Capt Retd Mushtaq, Mandi Bawaldeen’s Sheheryaar Deen, a special video editor from model town in Karachi’s Tahir Ali Sheikh. An IED expert from Dera Lai Khan called engineer Rana. I have only named a few of them till now. These are the names I am aware of. These are the name I have details about.”
The two reports seem to corroborate each other. While the Times Now report makes it clear that a very large number of terrorists including commanders and potential fidayeens had gathered at the bombed terror training camp. If one connects it with the Republic report, it seems that on being bombed, Pakistan was left red-faced. It had been exposed fomenting cross-border terrorism on its soil against India. It had also been embarrassed about how India was able to give it a bloody nose. Therefore, the Pakistan Army seems to have launched a massive cover-up in order to downplay the airstrikes carried out by India.