A file photograph of the Jaish terror camp in Balakot which was destroyed by the IAF strikes
Residents in the earthquake-prone Balakot town in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province said on Thursday that they were woken by "loud explosions" and thought a fresh earthquake must have hit the region when Indian Air Force jets destroyed a large terror training camp.
Balakot town in Pakistan's north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province faced large-scale destruction during the 2005 earthquake and was rebuilt with assistance from Saudi Arabia.
Residents in the mountainous area town told BBC Urdu they were woken by loud explosions. Residents in several towns near Balakot reported hearing loud explosions early on Tuesday.
Mohammad Adil, a farmer in Balakot's Jaba village, said he and his family were woken at about 03:00 am by "a huge explosion". He said they thought an earthquake must have hit the region.
"Then we heard jets flying over. When we went to the place in the morning, there was a huge crater," he said.
In a swift and precise air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India bombed and destroyed one of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camps in Pakistan. "Large number of terrorists and trainers" were killed in the air strikes.
The pre-dawn air strike by the Indian Air Force was described by the government as "non-military" and "pre-emptive."