‘We Were Lucky..’: Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh Describes How They Took Care Of The ‘Ghost of Balakot’

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, on August 9, 2025, Saturday expressed regret that they were not able to convince some people in the country regarding the damage inflicted on terrorist camps during the 2019 Balakot airstrike, as reported in the ANI. According to the Chief of the Air Staff, they were not able to convince some people despite possessing human intelligence about the same. While addressing a gathering at the HAL Management Academy, Air Chief Marshal Mr. Singh said that a lack of video evidence would have raised similar issues following Operation Sindoor. Air Chief Marshal Mr. Singh, “However, we were lucky that we got these videos in the open.”

What was the 2019 Balakot airstrike?

On 14 February 2019, a Pak based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad conducted a suicide attack according to the information available in the media briefing on the website of the Ministry of External Affairs. This led to the martyrdom of 40 brave jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). In retaliation to this suicide attack, India led the Balakot strike on 26th February, 2019 and struck the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot. 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. 

What was Operation Sindoor?

On April 22, 2025, 26 civilians, were shot dead at Baisaran valley in Pahalgam, Kashmir by terrorists affiliated to the terrorist group The Resistance Front. India had initiated cross-border operation, Operation Sindoor, in retaliation to this attack. In this operation, nine targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, 2025, were targeted. Indian Air Force played a crucial role in doing precision strikes against the terrorist infrastructure across Pakistan. The security forces eliminated the terrorists involved in the killing of civilians in Pahalgam under Operation Mahadev.

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