As the Balakot airstrikes completed three years on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saluted the extraordinary valour of ‘Indian Air Force’ and said that these soldiers will always be remembered with pride.
Taking to Twitter, Adityanath said, “On the third anniversary of ‘Balakot Air Strike’, salute to the extraordinary valour of ‘Indian Air Force’. This valour of our soldiers is that indelible blow on the chest of the terrorists living on enemy soil, which will always be remembered with pride. Jai Hind! @IAF_MCC.”
On February 14, Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) targeted a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pulwama in South Kashmir killing 40 CPRF personnel.
Days later, IAF launched an airstrike on a JeM camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The airstrike was launched in the early hours of February 26 and Pakistan’s efforts to launch an offensive the next day to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir were thwarted by an alert IAF.
In the dogfight, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a MiG-21 Bison fighter plane and chasing Pakistani jets, crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He was taken into custody by Pakistan. India also shot down a Pakistani fighter jet.
