The air strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on a terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, was code-named ‘Operation Bandar’.
“It was code-named Operation Bandar but was known to very few,” a defence source said on Friday. There was no particular reason in the choice of the name, the official stated and added, “It could have been anything.”
To maintain secrecy till the mission was executed, the Mirages took off directly from their home base in Gwalior at the time of the mission crossing Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir to the target area and back. “Everything was carried on as usual in the run-up to it to maintain secrecy,” a defence official had stated.
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As a response to the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 security personnel, 12 IAF Mirage-2000 fighter jets struck on Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Balakot inside Pakistan in the early hours on February 26 with precision guided munitions.