OdishaLIVE Bureau
Satellite imagery shows at least 6 JeM structures still standing days after the air attacks.
Days after the air-attacks by Indian Air Force at Balakot, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, Indian Government is yet to release any official details about the attack. This has led to many doubts, speculations and commentaries by the opposition that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are booming up their achievements for political gains in the upcoming LS election.
According to a report released by an International news Agency Reuters, the high resolution satellite images show that a religious school (Madrasa) run by Jaish-e-Mohamad in the Northeastern Pakistan is still standing intact days after the air attack. Indian Government has listed this school as one of its target during the air-attacks.
The images were provided by Planets Lab Inc, a San-Fransisco based private satellite operator. It confirms that at least 6 buildings were still standing intact on March 4, 2019 in the target area which is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo.
The Reuters report quotes, ‘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.’
Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies said, “The high-resolution images don’t show any evidence of bomb damage. If the strike had been successful, given the information we have about what kind of munitions were used, I would expect to see signs that the buildings had been damaged.”
This raises questions against the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is highlighting the success of the air-strikes in his election rallies and on the other hand is encountering the comments of his opposition regarding authenticity of the air attack. Just after the attack Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director general of the Pakistan military’s press wing said that there were no damages to any infrastructure or any human life after the Indian incursion.
Indian Foreign and Defence ministries are yet to reply the numerous mails sent to them seeking comments on these satellite imageries and whether they compromise with their earlier comments or not.
