Coimbatore: Almost a week after the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out air strikes at JeM base camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, Air chief Marshal BS Dhanoa on Monday said that “can’t count how many people died” when he was asked to give a figure of terrorists killed in the February 26 airstrike.
“We can’t count how many people have died. It depends on how many people were there,” the Air Chief said while addressing a press conference.
“The Air Force is not in a position to count casualties,” he added.
ALSO READ: Amit Shah claims ‘more than 250 terrorists’ were killed in Balakot…
While there has been no official figure by the government, BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday claimed that “250 terrorists have been killed”.
The Air Chief further said that it is for the government to say how many were hit.
“Air Force is not in a position to clarify how many people were inside. We don’t count human casualties. We count what targets we have hit or not hit,” Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said.
“The bomb damage assessment that is done post a mission calculates the number of targets we have hit or not hit.”
Speaking on Pakstan’s claim that no strikes took place IAF chief BS Dhanoa said, “If we dropped bombs in a jungle, why would Pakistan respond?