Balakot air strikes: Pak accuses India of 'Eco Terrorism', to lodge UN complaint

Islamabad, Mar 01: Pakistan Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam on Friday claimed that India's IAF airstrike targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp has damaged dozens of pine trees near the Pakistani town of Balakot. Taking note of which, the Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing it of "eco-terrorism".

The Pakistan has claimed that India bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balakot, about 40 km (25 miles) from India's border in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Indian jets bombed a "forest reserve" and the government was undertaking an environmental impact assessment, which will be the basis a complaint at the United Nations and other forums, Pak climate Change minister was quoted saying by Reuters.

What happened over there is environmental terrorism... dozens of pine trees had been felled. There has been serious environmental damage," the minister told Reuters.

Hostilities between the neighbours have peaked since Wednesday, with aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani warplanes for the first time in 48 years. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured after the encounter.

Ties nosedived between India and Pakistan and many countries have urged de-escalation of hostilities in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, in which over 40 soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. On Tuesday, India sent fighter planes to Pakistan for the first time since 1971 and bombed a massive Jaish terror training facility in Balakot.

New Delhi said it was a "non-military and pre-emptive" strike based on credible inputs that Jaish was training suicide bombers for more attacks like Pulwama.