Pak military takes intl media\, foreign diplomats on tour of Balakot seminary\, hit by India on Feb 26

Pak military takes intl media, foreign diplomats on tour of Balakot seminary, hit by India on Feb 26

Press Trust of India  |  Islamabad 

military on Wednesday took a group of international and foreign diplomats on a tour of the seminary and its surrounding areas in Balakot, where carried out a counter-terror operation on JeM's biggest training camp 43 days ago.

Amid mounting outrage, the (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside on February 26. The next day, retaliated and downed a in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was handed over to on March 1.

According to Urdu, the group was flown from in a helicopter to Jabba in They visitors trekked for about one-and-a-half hour to reach the madrassa on the top of a mountain surrounded by lush green trees.

The group, while going up, also saw a ditch on a hillside where India jets dropped its payload, according to

About 150 students, aged 12-13, were present inside the seminary building and were being taught Quran when the group reached inside the madrassa, they said.

The visit by the group lasted for about 20 minutes and the participants were allowed to take pictures and even some of them spoke to the teachers present there.

held formal and informal chat with the reporters.

"This is an old madrassah and has always been like this," he said, indicating that Indian claim of hitting it was not true.

This was the first formal visit of and diplomats to the place about which India claimed that its strike killed scores of militants.

The purpose of organising the trip was apparently to fortify Pakistan's claim that Indian failed to destroy any structure or kill anyone during the ariel attack of February 26 which brought the two nations to the verge of a war, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, April 10 2019. 22:30 IST