By bombing Balakot, India has struck ideological heart of Pak-based terror

Balakot is where a 19th century leader who waged jihad against Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Sikh kingdom was killed in battle, and has come to be revered by Pakistan-based terrorists

When Indian Air Force (IAF) jets on Tuesday bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, in a pre-dawn strike, they might also have struck at the ideological root of Maulana Masood Azhar's terrorist organisation.

While Pakistan claims ‘payload’ was dropped in Balakote, a place with a similar name within Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, IAF’s Mirage 2000 aircraft are said to have crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and struck a JeM camp on the banks of the Kunhar river in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), one of the four administrative provinces of Pakistan.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay