Images show madrasa buildings still standing at Balakot

The madrasa run by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at the Balakot site hit by the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter planes appears to be still standing with no visible damage, as per high-resolution satellite images of the site, says news agency Reuters.

It says at least six buildings were visible on the site on March 4, six days after the air strike, and that the image was virtually identical to an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility.

The satellite images from San Francisco-based private satellite operator Planet Labs Inc are the first high-resolution satellite images publicly available and show details as small as 72 cm.

"There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack. The images cast further doubt on statements made over the last eight days by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the raids, early on Feb 26, had hit all the intended targets at the madrasa site near Jaba village and the town of Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province," the Reuters report said.

Twelve days after a JeM suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF troopers, India said it had struck the JeM's biggest training camp at Balakot killing "a very large number" of terrorists and their trainers.

While Pakistan admitted that the IAF planes struck Balakot, it claimed that they returned when it scrambled its war planes and that there were no losses on the ground. However, IAF chief B.S. Dhanoa said the IAF planes had hit their target.

--IANS

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