Amid speculation on the number of Jaish terrorists killed in India's cross-LoC airstrike in Balakot, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said Monday that the death toll would depend on the "number of people present in the target" and the casualty figure would be "given by the government".
"The Indian Air Force is not in a position to clarify the number of casualties. The government will clarify that. We don't count human casualties. We do not count how many people were dead. We count what targets we have hit or not.
"We hit our target. The air force doesn't calculate casualty numbers. The government does that," Dhanoa told the media in Coimbatore.
"The target has been clearly amplified by the Foreign Secretary in a statement. If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target. Otherwise why would he (Pakistan Prime Minister) have responded. If we dropped bombs in the jungles why would he respond," Dhanoa said in his first public remarks on the February 26 air force operation as a consequence of the February 14 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
BJP chief Amit Shah said on Sunday that "more than 250 terrorists" were killed in the February 26 cross-LoC airstrike in Balakot.
To a question on Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's fitness, he said: "We don't take chances with the medical fitness of a pilot. If Abhinandan is fit he will fly a fighter jet."
Abhinandan was released on March 1, Friday, by Pakistan. He had been taken captive by Pakistan after his MiG 21 Bison fighter jet was hit across the LoC. He was released by Pakistan as a "peace gesture".
There were reports that he had suffered some injuries after he came down in Pakistan, and was also severely beaten up by a Pakistani mob on Wednesday.
The IAF chief said that the IAF is happy that "Abhinandan is back" and that "all required treatment will be given to Wing Commander Abhinandan".
He said that the Rafale fighter jets should join the inventory by September this year.
"Rafale jet fighter should come into India's inventory by September," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that India felt "the absence of the Rafale" in its attack on the Pakistan target.
(With inputs from PTI)
