1. What happened?
India conducted major pre-emptive strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed training camps early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said. Unnamed sources have pegged the figure of terrorists killed at around 300-350. The last time IAF crossed the LoC and used the Mirage 2000 aircraft was during the 1971 war.
Read more: IAF carries out airstrikes on terror camps across LoC
2. How did it happen?
The strikes were reportedly carried out at around 3:30 Tuesday morning by 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets, reports said. The aircraft dropped 1,000 Kg laser-guided bombs on major militant camps across the LoC and thus completely destroying it, news agency ANI reported quoting Air Force sources. It is believed that six bombs were dropped.
The facility at Balakot, located in a thick forest on a hilltop far away from civilian presence, was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar, alias Ustad Ghouri, the brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
The statement did not say if Azhar was among those killed.
Everyone at the camp was sleeping and Pakistani defence establishment had no clue that the attack was coming so deep into their country because they had expected a surgical strike on camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir near the Line of Control, said the sources who are close to the government.
But India received intelligence that JeM had shifted many in-training terrorists and hardcore operatives, along with their trainers, to the Balakot camp, which has facilities for 500 to 700 people, and even has a swimming pool along with cooks and cleaners.
Fighter and other aircraft took off from several air bases in Western and Central commands at about the same time, leaving Pakistani defence officials confused as to where they were heading, the sources said. A small group of aircraft broke away from the swarm and headed to Balakot where "the sleeping terrorists were sitting ducks for the Indian bombing," said one source.
Read more: 350 terrorists killed while sleeping: Sources
3. Why did India conduct air strikes?
Gokhale said the "intelligence-led operation" on the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-based terror group's biggest training camp in Balakot became "absolutely necessary" as it was planning more suicide attacks in India. JeM had claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy in which at least 40 soldiers were killed.
Read more: Biggest JeM camp in PoK destroyed: Indian Foreign Secy
4. How did Pakistan Government react?
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan convened an emergency meeting to review the situation and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India has committed “aggression” by violating the LoC and Islamabad has the “right to self-defence”.
Pakistan's National Security Committee (NSC), after a meeting chaired by Imran Khan, on Tuesday said that India has committed an uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing.
5. Is there proof that the strikes happened?
The Pakistan Army claimed that the Indian military planes “intruded” from the Muzaffarabad sector but were forced to go back after Pakistan Air Force “immediately scrambled”.
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Asif Ghafoor, said in a tweet: “Indian Air Force violated Line of Control, following which Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled and Indian aircraft went back”.
In another tweet, Ghafoor said that the aircraft faced "timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force" and ended up "releasing payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot". No casualties or damage occurred, the military spokesman said. Ghafoor also tweeted “pictures” of the spot where the payload hit.
However, the Indian Government released visuals, tweeted by ANI, of the terror establishment before it was destroyed.
BBC News also reached out to eyewitnesses who said that the bombing felt like an earthquake.
6. How did India react?
Public figures and celebrities shared their support messages.
Support for the Indian Air Force after the airstrikes in Balakot 1