Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is marking Operation Swift Retort’s fourth anniversary today.
Two Indian aircraft that had breached Pakistani airspace were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on February 27, 2019. Pakistan had one of the Indian pilots arrested, but as a gesture of peace, Pakistan returned him back to India. The false-flag operation at Pulwama on February 14, 2019, established the military and technical supremacy of the PAF and destroyed the myth of Indian military might in a botched attempt to strike deep inside Pakistan.
In Pulwama on February 14, 2019, a young Kashmiri boy enraged by Indian oppression of Kashmiris drove an explosives-laden car into a convoy of 78 buses transporting Indian paramilitary police, killing 40 CRPF members. Before any investigation could begin, the Indian government and media promptly blamed Pakistan moments after the attack. Imran Khan, who was prime minister at the time, pledged to launch an investigation if India could offer any “actionable evidence.” He did, however, add a warning that if attacked, Pakistan will “retaliate.”
Operation Bandar
The Indian authorities code-named the Balakot attack ‘Operation Bandar’ to reduce the possibility of information leaking. The word ‘Bandar’ was chosen because monkeys are sacred in Hinduism, and this refers to a story in Hindu religious myths in which Hanuman, a deity who resembles the monkey, secretly entered Lanka and burned it to the ground.
The Indian Air Force carried out an aerial attack near ‘Balakot.’ On February 26, 2019, India launched an attack on a religious seminary that India explained as a militant camp, trying to claim to have killed more than 300 terrorists but providing no evidence to back up the claims. The well-practiced operation, which involved 20 Mirage 2000 aircraft carrying Spice 2000 and Crystal Maze missiles, was aided by Air Borne Early Warning systems. Despite practicing on the simulator and using pre-programmed coordinates on the bombs, they were unable to deliver their payload to the target.
However, the Indian plane dropped their payload near a mountain, killing one crow and damaging a few valuable pine trees, prompting Imran to express his pain repeatedly, as trees were very close to his heart. In response, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a counter-strike on February 27, 2019, primarily to demonstrate Pakistan’s resolve. The strike was carefully planned to avoid ground casualties.
During the brief aerial encounter that ensued, the PAF shot down two IAF planes and captured one of the pilots. The SU-30’s debris fell into IOK, killing its pilot, while MiG-21 pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, whose aircraft fell on the Pakistani side, was captured alive.
