IAF’s Balakot Air Strike Was Codenamed ‘Operation Bandar’, Reportedly Inspired By Lord Hanuman’s Lanka Expedition

The Balakot air strike of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was codenamed Operation Bandar, possibly inspired by the fact that monkeys have always held a special place in India’s war culture, as evident in Lord Hanuman’s exploits in Ravans’s kingdom of Lanka, ANI has reported.

The codename was also chosen by the IAF to maintain top secrecy for the operation which involved 12 Mirage 2000 jets crossing over into Pakistani territory to completely destroy a large Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot.

Around 200 to 300 terrorists are said to have perished in the air strike. The IAF maintains that the bombs struck their targets with an 80 per cent accuracy.

The report citing defence sources claimed that the codename was envisioned to maintain secrecy and was specifically inspired by the special place monkeys hold in India’s war culture.

Most famously, as detailed in Ramayana, Lord Hanuman had wrecked havoc in the Ravana ruled kingdom of Lanka after the latter had abducted Maa Sita.