Surgical Strikes 2.0 LIVE: India Confirms Air Strike on Biggest Jaish Terror Camp in Balakot

12:53 (IST)

Who is JeM's Yusuf Azhar? | Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that the air force hit at the JeM camp run by Yusuf Azhar, touted to be the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, the chief of the terror outfit. According to a report in The Hindu, Yusuf Azhar alias Mohammad Salim was one of the men who hijacked the Indian Airline flight IC 814 to Kandahar in 1999. The JeM chief was then released by India in exchange for the IC- 814 hijacked passengers. In 2002, the government handed over a list of 20 fugitives to Islamabad which featured Yusuf Azhar's name.

12:48 (IST)

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has invited Opposition leaders for a briefing on the air strike in Pakistan. The meeting is scheduled at 5 pm at Jawahar Bhawan.

12:41 (IST)

Indian Army has shot down a Pakistani spy drone in Abdasa village, in Kutch, Gujarat.

11:20 (IST)

Quoting its sources, news agency ANI said that one of the targets destroyed by IAF Mirage jets was in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area.

11:18 (IST)

Sources in the defence ministry has told CNN-News18 that the operation lasted for 20 minutes.

11:04 (IST)

China's news agency Xinhua reports that Beijing and Islamabad are holding talks. Foreign ministers of both the countries are in a conversation over India's air strikes.

11:02 (IST)

There has been a confusion over which Balakot has been hit by Indian strikes prevails. Earlier reports claimed that it was in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, but subsequently media started claiming that the Balakote in KPK province.

10:59 (IST)

Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd) further said that the ball in now in Pakistan's court. "I am sure the Indian side would be well prepared. I think we are more than adequately prepared to retaliate. My thinking is that it's not going to be anything big from their side," he said.

10:55 (IST)

Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd), the commanding officer of the Northern Army Command who oversaw the much-lauded surgical strikes in 2016, told CNN-News18 that IAF must have planned it well, selected routes, used sophisticated jammers. "IAF is much superior to Pakistan as far as technology is concerned," he said.

10:53 (IST)

Quoting its sources, news agency ANI said that Pakistani F16s were scrambled to retaliate against IAF Mirage 2000s but turned back due to size of Indian formation. Western Air Command coordinated operation.

10:45 (IST)

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale is expected to give the first official reaction on the air strike at 11:30 am. He was also a part of the CCS meeting chaired by PM Modi.

10:44 (IST)

"We acted in 100 hours. Today's action had to be taken as people have trust in Modi ji. This step was important. Modi ji gave freedom to the Army to act," said Union minister Prakash Javadekar.

10:42 (IST)

Local residents reported hearing war planes in the night sky, which led them to believe that something big is happening.

Days after Pulwama attack, India on Tuesday carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan with top government sources saying that there were over 200 casualties from IAF strike. Reports say that terror launch pads across the LoC in Balakot, Chakothi and Muzaffarabad sectors have completely been destroyed along with JeM control rooms.

While officials in the air force refused to comment, saying that they have nothing to reply, sources told CNN-News18 that the force was targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) hideout in Balakot sector with laser-guided bombs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing a high-level CCS meeting in New Delhi along with Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Arun Jaitley on the attack.

IAF destroys Pakistan terror camps! In a big overnight operation, IAF’s Mirage 2000 fighter jets have completely destroyed multiple terror camps in Pakistan. According to IAF sources, quoted by ANI, as many as 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force took part in the operation. According to reports, 1,000 kgs bombs were dropped on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC). Sources have said that at around 0330 hours on the 26th February the Mirage 2000 fighter jets struck a major terrorist camp across the LoC and completely destroyed it.