Former Pakistani diplomat Agha Hilaly, during a debate on a Pakistani Urdu channel on Saturday, admitted that 300 terrorists had died in the Balakot airstrike by India on February 2019.

It may be mentioned that the former diplomat's admission goes against the zero casualties claim by Pakistan. Hilaly usually takes the Pakistan Army's side in TV debates but was different this time.

After the airstrikes were carried out at a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror training camp in Balakot, Pakistan had refused to acknowledge the fact that terrorists present at the camp were killed during the airstrike.

"India crossed the international border and did an act of war in which at least 300 were reported dead. Our target was different from theirs. We targeted their high command. That was our legitimate target because they are men of the military. We subconsciously accepted that a surgical strike — a limited action — did not result in any casualty. Now we have subconsciously told them that, whatever they will do, we'll do only that much and won't escalate," said Agha Hilaly.

The strike was in response to the terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. Pakistan-based JeM claimed the responsibility for the February 14 attack, which has been largely condemned by the international community.