Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa today avoided the ongoing political controversy, saying the IAF does not count casualties but the airstrike at Balakot had hit the “target”.

The IAF had struck a terror camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pakistan on February 26 and since then neither the IAF nor the government has listed the number of casualties. However, the media has been saying that nearly 300 terrorists were killed.

EDIT: Going ballistic over Balakot

The IAF Chief was speaking at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu for the first time since the attack at Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Paktunkhwa province. “We don’t count human casualties. We count what targets we have hit or not hit,” the IAF Chief said.

“The bomb damage assessment only calculates the target that has been hit or not hit,” he said, adding: “We can’t count how many people have died. That depends on how many people were there.” He said a statement on the number of terrorists killed would be made by the government.

On reports suggesting the bombs were dropped away from the target, he said: “Had the IAF dropped bombs in a jungle, there would have been no need for Pakistan to respond. If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target.”

On the MiG-21 still being used, the IAF Chief said: “The MiG-21 Bison is in our inventory, why not use it? It has been upgraded. It has got a better weapons system, better radars and better air-to-air missiles.” The IAF Chief refused to be drawn into a commentary on what difference the Rafale could have made, saying: “The Prime Minister has made a statement. I will not comment on that.”