Becoming the first leader of the ruling government to put out the number of casualties in the IAF strike on a terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday claimed that “more than 250” terrorists were killed in the operation, even when the government is yet to give out an official count of the terrorists killed.

“After Uri, our forces went into Pakistan and carried out surgical strikes. They avenged the death of our soldiers. After Pulwama, everyone thought there could be no surgical strikes, what will happen? But under (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s leadership, the government carried out an air strike after the 13th day and killed more than 250 terrorists,” Amit Shah said at a public rally in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

In another event in Surat, Amit Shah also said: “Earlier our jawans used to be beheaded and insulted but today, the situation is such that when our jawan fell in Pakistan while shooting down an F-16, within 24 hours he was back. This change is because of Narendra Modi’s will power.”

The Indian Air Force had last week said there was evidence that its jets had hit their intended targets but that it was premature to assess casualties.

Following the Pulwama terror attack, India carried out “non-military pre-emptive” airstrikes targeting the JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early on February 26.

The opposition has however raised questions on the number of casualties put out by government sources.

Kapil Sibal, former Congress minister, asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was guilty of “politicising terror”, pointing to foreign media reports saying there was no proof that terrorists were killed in Balakot.

Former Union minister P Chidambaram asked who put out the number of casualties at 300-350.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh had earlier asked the Narendra Modi-led Central government to make public proof of the strikes targetting terrorist camps, just like the US had done after their navy seals killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee had referred to foreign media reports that claimed the strikes had not done much damage and urged the Centre to clear the air regarding the details of the strike.

The opposition had last week collectively flayed the ruling BJP for “blatant politicisation” of the armed forces’ sacrifices and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not convening an all-party meeting.

At the meeting, the parties attacked Modi and BJP President Amit Shah for “using” the IAF action to build a narrative for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.