IAF jets take off in batches before strikes

Surjit kumar Dhal, New Delhi, Feb 26:  As many as 12 Mirage 2000 aircraft took off from Gwalior air base in batches to strike Pakistan’s pride, said sources.

          The Mirage jets were armed 500/1000lb laser-guided bombs and fitted with Israeli litening targetting pods, they said adding an IAF early warning jet took off from Bhatinda.

          Simultaneously, an IAF mid-air refuelling tanker took off from Agra while an IAF Heron Surveillance accompanied the team.

          The Mirage 2000 pilots conducted final checks on the targets. They were then cleared from the command centre to proceed.

The Mirage 2000 jets flew across LoC at low level, the sources said and added, the pilots of the Mirage 2000 jets used laser pods to ‘paint’ targets before dropping their payload of bombs.