A satellite image shows a close-up of the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. (Photo: Planet Labs Inc via Reuters)
A patchwork of roofs. An empty yard. A madrasa perched above brown, forested slopes in Pakistan's northeast.
Far away from this aerial tableau, a furious debate among Indian politicians has focused on a single question -- did an airstrike ordered by New Delhi on the hilltop training camp successfully kill Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists?
The Indian Air Force has said categorically that it hit its target. Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa pointed out this week that there was no need for Pakistan to respond if Indian jets had dropped bombs in the jungle.
"If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target," the Air Force chief said -- but he also explained that the IAF did not count human casualties.
Satellite expert Col. (Retd) Vinayak Bhat tweeted images (taken on March 4) of the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp on Wednesday, saying they indicated "likely damage" that wasn't "massive". He pointed out some specific details that included spots on a roof, and a dark patch in an open space that could have been caused by an airburst, or a fuel explosion.
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In an analysis published by ThePrint.in, Col. Bhat notes, among other things, the disappearance of tents observed prior to the Indian strike.
A report published by Reuters interprets the same satellite imagery differently.
"The image is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility. There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack," the London-based newswire says.
The report concludes that the images show Jaish-e-Mohammed's training camp "appears to be still standing".
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted the Reuters report on Wednesday but did not offer any other comment.
A number of Opposition leaders have either questioned the death toll figures doing the rounds, or asked -- like Digvijaya Singh did -- for proof of the strike.
India's foreign secretary said the counter-terrorism operation in Balakot had eliminated a large number of terrorists, but gave no specific figure (Nor have any of the armed forces.). But top BJP leaders have said hundreds were killed.
"India's respected and authentic NTRO [National Technical Research Organisation] surveillance system has said that before Indian pilots dropped the bombs, 300 mobile phones were active there," Rajnath Singh, the Union Minister for Home Affairs, said this week.
"There's no need to tell you how many were killed."
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