Rahul Gandhi salutes IAF for air strikes in PoK avenging Pulwama attack

"I salute the pilots of the IAF,". Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted after IAF carried out an air strike destroying three base camps of terrorist groups in PoK. Gandhi also put out the Indian flag along with his tweet.

Without launching a political slugfest like in the case of Surgical Strikes in response to Uri attacks, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lauded the Indian Air Force for destroying terrors base camps in Balakot, Chakoti and Muzaffarabad in a series of air strikes in PoK. "I salute the pilots of the IAF," he tweeted. Gandhi also put out the Indian flag along with his tweet.

🇮🇳 I salute the pilots of the IAF. 🇮🇳

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 26, 2019

The Congress also tweeted, lauding the role of the Indian Air Force in keeping Indians safe with its consistent and determined effort. "We salute the @IAF_MCC for their consistent & determined effort to keep Indians safe. Jai Hind," the Congress said on its official Twitter handle.

We salute the @IAF_MCC for their consistent & determined effort to keep Indians safe. Jai Hind. https://t.co/RmfHQNlwH4

— Congress (@INCIndia) February 26, 2019

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the IAF used 12 mirage fighter jets to drop more than 1000 kg of explosives in PoK. According to sources, the attacks killed around 200 terrorists in that region. “At 0330 hours on 26th February a group of Mirage 2000 Indian Fighter jets struck a major terrorist camp across the LoC and completely destroyed it,” IAF sources told ANI. India’s response came 12 days after Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad killed more than 40 Indian soldiers by using a suicide bomber in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Notably, Congress had attracted criticism from a lot of quarters for demanding proof of surgical strike conducted by Indian Army in 2017, 10 days after the Uri attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. "You are hiding behind the blood of the soldiers … aap khoon ki dalali kar rahe ho … they [the soldiers] have done their job, you do yours," the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had said. Meanwhile, The Pakistan Army on Tuesday alleged that the Indian Air Force violated the Line of Control (LoC) in Muzaffarabad sector. "Indian aircrafts intruded from Muzaffarabad sector. Facing timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot. No casualties or damage," Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said in a tweet in Islamabad. "Indian Air Force violated Line of Control Pakistan. Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled. Indian aircraft gone back," he tweeted.