Indian Air Force jets struck Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest camp in Pakistan on February 26 in a major pre-emptive action, killing a large number of terrorists and trainers of the Pak-based terror group preparing to carry out suicide attacks on Indian soil, a top official said.

Giving details of the “intelligence-led operation”, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said credible intelligence was received that the JeM was planning to carry out other suicide attacks in India after the Pulwama bombing on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 jawans.

“Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary. In an intelligence-led operation in the early hours of today, India struck the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot,” Gokhale said.

“In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated,” he said.

Earlier, government sources said Mirage 2000 combat jets of the IAF bombed terror camps at multiple locations across the Line of Control (LoC). They said jets pounded the camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India has committed “aggression” by violating the LoC and Islamabad has the “right to respond”.

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, Gokhale said.

In the face of imminent danger, a preventive strike became “absolutely necessary”, he said, adding that India is firmly committed towards taking all measures to fight terrorism.

India expects Pakistan to dismantle all terror camps, including those of the JeM, he said.

Hours after the strike, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In Islamabad, Qureshi briefed Prime Minister Imran Khan after an “emergency meeting” with high-level officials at the Foreign Office for consultations. “First, they committed aggression against Pakistan today. It is a violation of the LoC. I consider it a violation of the LoC, and Pakistan has right to give a suitable response in self-defence,” he said.