Air strike: Narendra Modi attacks opposition leaders in MP

"Air strikes happened in Pakistan. However some people in India felt the shocks," he said addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh.

Attacking the opposition, he said some people did not think the steps taken by the Army was right.

"Here they are attacking Modi and in Pakistan people are appreciating them," he said.

Modi's comment came days after several opposition leaders questioned the number of terrorists killed in the airstrike.

Alleging that BJP is using the airstrike issue to garner votes in the upcoming General Elections, several opposition leaders urged the government to provide details of the action taken by the IAF after the Pulwama attack.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, Mamata Banerjee, who is known to be a strong critic of the Modi government, questioned the number of militants killed in the airstrike.

The controversy got fuel with former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa's statement where he said his party will benefit in the forthcoming polls due to the airstrike.  

IAF head makes crucial statement:

The Indian Air Force (IAF) head, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, on Monday said the IAF had hit the target but cannot count how many people died in the Indian airstrike on Jaish-e-Mohammad base in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on Feb 26, triggering a series of incidents that heightened the border tension with the hostile neighbour.

Air chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said on the Balakot strike in a press conference here: "We don't count human casualties. We can't count how many people have died. It depends on how many people were there."

He said the Air Force is not in a position to clarify the number of people killed and that would be made known by the government.

"We planned to hit the target, we hit the target," he said, adding that they had not dropped bombs on jungles the other side would not have responded.

We hit the target, we can't count casualties: IAF chief on Balakot strike

While there is an ongoing row over the impact of the Jaish camp strike and the number of people killed with Opposition raising the issue and targeting the BJP government,  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah has stated the figure is above 250.

However, the government is yet to give any figure except for the first press conference when the foreign secretary claimed a large number of casualty.

Earlier, Italian journalist Francesca Marino, who describes herself as a specialist of South Asia on Twitter, said her authentic sources confirmed the death toll was between 40 and 50 while 35-40 militants were injured.

Image of Narendra Modi: BJP Twitter page