India attack on Kashmir latest in ongoing conflict as plebiscite remains deferred
Amid a war of words about the results, implications and consequences of the air strike on Balakot, a fog of uncertainty hangs over events
In his classic On War, written in 1873, Carl von Clausewitz observed: “War is the realm of uncertainty; three-quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. A sensitive and discriminating judgment is called for; a skilled intelligence to scent out the truth.” As Pakistan and India engage in a war of words about the results, implications and future consequences of the February 26 Indian air attack on Balakot, inside Pakistani territory, it is still unclear what exactly has happened. A spokesperson for the Indian government initially claimed a camp of the militant Islamic group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) had been targeted and destroyed, 300 militants killed and their leader Masood Azhar “taken out”. This was in retaliation for the bomb attack in Pulwama, Kashmir, on February 14, carried out by Adil Ahmed Dar, a Kashmiri youth affiliated to JEM. Dar had driven a car packed with explosives into a convoy of more than 70 central ...
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