IAF strikes: Government convenes all-party meeting, Swaraj to brief opposition leaders

The government has convened an all-party meeting Tuesday evening where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will brief the leaders of opposition parties on the pre-dawn air strike operation by the Indian Air Force against Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) terror camps in Pakistan, sources said.

They said the meeting has been convened at 5 PM at Jawahar Bhawan which houses the ministry of External Affairs. Leaders of various parties are expected to participate.

In a swift and precise air strike following the Pulwama attack, India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of  terrorists, trainers and senior commanders, officials said.

Giving details of the operation at a news conference here, 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 12 days ago that killed 40 jawans.

"Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger,  a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary.

"In an intelligence-led operation in the early hours of today (Tuesday), 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."