On the third anniversary of the Balakot airstrikes, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) soldiers who were part of the strikes, will always be remembered.

UP CM Adityanath saluted the extraordinary valour shown by IAF to strike terrorists living on enemy soil, saying that they will always be remembered for it, reported ANI.

On the occasion, Adityanath took to Twitter to write, “On the third anniversary of 'Balakot Air Strike', salute to the extraordinary valour of 'Indian Air Force'.”

“This valour of our soldiers is that indelible blow on the chest of the terrorists living on enemy soil, which will always be remembered with pride. Jai Hind! @IAF_MCC," he further wrote.

Notably, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a Pakistan based terror outfit had targeted a CRPF convoy on the Jammu – Srinagar highway in South Kashmir near Pulwama on February 14, 2019. 40 CRPF personnel were martyred in the attack.

In a swift retaliation, IAF launched an airstrike on JeM camps in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, just days later.

The airstrike was launched in the wee hours of February 26 and Pakistan’s retaliatory efforts the next day were successfully thwarted by the IAF.

In the entire dogfight, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was flying a MiG-21 Bison fighter plane and chasing Pakistani jets, crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He was taken into custody but was later released and became a national icon of valour.