Balakot Airstrike – Forensic Satellite Imagery Analysis

As a retaliation against Pulwama attack (refer to GreatGameIndia wiki on Pulwama Attack), Indian fighter jets carried out strikes against targets inside undisputed Pakistani territory, but open-source evidence suggested that the strike was unsuccessful.

At around 3:30 a.m. local time on February 26, a flight of 12 Mirage 2000 multi-role fighters reportedly attacked facilities of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) near Balakot town in Mansehra District, Pakistan. Using open-source evidence, we were able to geolocate the site of the attack and provide a preliminary damage assessment.
While most sources at the time identified the strike as taking place in the Pakistani town of Balakot, others located the strike at “Jaba Top,” a likely reference to a mountain top near the village of Jaba, about 10 kilometers south of Balakot.

Identification

On the morning of the February 26, after daybreak, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor, tweete...

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