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Looks like India did indeed drop bombs in a Forest
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...ding-indian-attack-claim-190306033806638.html
Images show madrasa buildings standing after Indian attack claim
Satellite imagery shows at least six Jaish-e-Muhammad structures still standing on March 4 - six days after air strikes.
13 minutes ago
A resident points to the site where Indian aircraft allegedly dropped munitions near Jaba village in Pakistan [Asif Shahzad/Reuters]
more on India
The images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, show at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4 - six days after the air strikes. Until now, no high-resolution satellite images were publicly available.
The images are 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 images cast further doubt on statements made over the last eight days by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the raids, early on February 26, had hit all the intended targets at the madrasa site in northern Pakistan's Balakat region.
India's foreign and defence ministries did not reply to questions emailed by Reuters news agency about the satellite images.
Missed target?
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, confirmed the photographs showed the structures in question still standing.
India, Pakistan exchange heavy border fire after pilot's release
"The high-resolution images don't show any evidence of bomb damage," he said.
Government sources said last week 12 Mirage 2000 jets carrying 1,000kg bombs carried out the attack.
Lewis and Dave Schmerler, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for nonproliferation studies who also analyses satellite images, said weapons that large would have caused obvious damage to the structures visible in the picture.
"If the strike had been successful - given the information we have about what kind of munitions were used - I would expect to see signs that the buildings had been damaged," said Lewis. "I just don't see that here."
Pakistan has disputed India's account, saying the operation was a failure that saw Indian jets, under pressure from Pakistani planes, drop their bombs on a largely empty hillside.
"There has been no damage to any infrastructure or human life as a result of Indian incursion," Major-General Asif Ghafoor said. "This has been vindicated by both domestic and international media after visiting the site."
Political fire
India must hold a general election by May and pollsters say Modi and his Hindu nationalist party stand to benefit from his aggressive response to a suicide bomb attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in the disputed Kashmir region on February 14.
What do we know about armed groups in Kashmir?
Indian officials said hundreds of "terrorists" were killed in the air strikes.
But the Indian government failed to produce evidence that the camp was destroyed and fighters were killed. That prompted some opposition politicians to push for more details.
Modi has accused the opposition Congress party and other opponents of helping India's enemies by demanding evidence of the attacks.
After the Indian air force incursion, a dogfight resulted in the capture of a downed Indian pilot, who was released on March 1 as part of a "peace gesture" by Pakistan.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...ding-indian-attack-claim-190306033806638.html
Images show madrasa buildings standing after Indian attack claim
Satellite imagery shows at least six Jaish-e-Muhammad structures still standing on March 4 - six days after air strikes.
13 minutes ago
A resident points to the site where Indian aircraft allegedly dropped munitions near Jaba village in Pakistan [Asif Shahzad/Reuters]
more on India
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The images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, show at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4 - six days after the air strikes. Until now, no high-resolution satellite images were publicly available.
The images are 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 images cast further doubt on statements made over the last eight days by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the raids, early on February 26, had hit all the intended targets at the madrasa site in northern Pakistan's Balakat region.
India's foreign and defence ministries did not reply to questions emailed by Reuters news agency about the satellite images.
Missed target?
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, confirmed the photographs showed the structures in question still standing.
India, Pakistan exchange heavy border fire after pilot's release
"The high-resolution images don't show any evidence of bomb damage," he said.
Government sources said last week 12 Mirage 2000 jets carrying 1,000kg bombs carried out the attack.
Lewis and Dave Schmerler, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for nonproliferation studies who also analyses satellite images, said weapons that large would have caused obvious damage to the structures visible in the picture.
"If the strike had been successful - given the information we have about what kind of munitions were used - I would expect to see signs that the buildings had been damaged," said Lewis. "I just don't see that here."
Pakistan has disputed India's account, saying the operation was a failure that saw Indian jets, under pressure from Pakistani planes, drop their bombs on a largely empty hillside.
"There has been no damage to any infrastructure or human life as a result of Indian incursion," Major-General Asif Ghafoor said. "This has been vindicated by both domestic and international media after visiting the site."
Political fire
India must hold a general election by May and pollsters say Modi and his Hindu nationalist party stand to benefit from his aggressive response to a suicide bomb attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in the disputed Kashmir region on February 14.
What do we know about armed groups in Kashmir?
Indian officials said hundreds of "terrorists" were killed in the air strikes.
But the Indian government failed to produce evidence that the camp was destroyed and fighters were killed. That prompted some opposition politicians to push for more details.
Modi has accused the opposition Congress party and other opponents of helping India's enemies by demanding evidence of the attacks.
After the Indian air force incursion, a dogfight resulted in the capture of a downed Indian pilot, who was released on March 1 as part of a "peace gesture" by Pakistan.
