New Delhi: With different mouths telling different stories, another report came of Balakot airstrikes done by the Indian Air Force (IAF). As per an Italian journalist, Francesca Marino, the strikes killed about 130 to 170 JeM cadres including 11 terror trainers.
As per the report of Marino, Pakistan Army tried to deceive the world by tampering of details what happened at the Balakot in the early hours of February 26. She said that according to a source, a Pakistan Army unit from Shinkiari reached the location at 6 am, two-and-a-half hours after the strike. She also said around 45 people are still undergoing medical treatment following the IAF strikes.
Writing for Stringer Asia Francesca Marino said, “Shinkiari is around 20km from Balakot, and the (Pakistan) army unit would have taken around 35-40 minutes to reach the location from where the climb to the camp begins. Incidentally, Shinkiari is also a base of the Pakistan army, with the Junior Leaders Academy (JLA) located there. The injured were taken to a Harkat-ul-Mujahideen camp at Shinkiari and treated by Pakistan army doctors.”
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As per her local source, “Around 45 persons are still undergoing treatment in this camp, while around 20 have died during treatment due to serious injuries. Those who have recovered are still in custody of the army and have not been discharged.”
She also revealed that to prevent the news to disseminate, the JeM members visited the family members of died cadres. “Two of the trainers were from Afghanistan. To prevent news on fatalities leaking through statements of family members of cadres, a group of JeM members also visited the families of those killed and handed over cash compensation to them,” she added.
Among many revelations, one is, adjacent to the Blue Pine Hotel, located at the foothills from where the trek to the JeM camp begins, is a painted signboard indicating the presence of the Taleem-ul-Quran on the hilltop. "Unlike the earlier board, all links to JeM leader and now internationally proscribed terrorist Masood Azhar has been removed. The camp area is still under the control of the army, with a Captain rank officer of the Mujahid battalion in command," Marino said.