While it was intially reported that a Jaish headquarters was struck down, Indian officials said the raid destroyed a training camp of JeM. (General view of the site after the airstrike: ISPR via REUTERS)

India said its warplanes struck a militant training camp inside Pakistan on February 26, and killed a "very large number of fighters".

The assertion was met with a vehement denial by Pakistan, with its prime minister, Imran Khan, insisting there was no proof to substantiate India's claims. Pakistan officials also denied there had been casualties.

But an audio tape with words voiced by Maulana Masood Azhar's brother now stands to verify what the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been saying all this while.

A journalist, Taha Siddiqui, on Saturday tweeted a clip from the above-mentioned audio tape -- with translation -- in which the Jaish-e-Mohammed leader can be clearly heard saying the Madrasa was struck down by Indian fighter planes.

The full confession address of Maulana Ammar, younger brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, is 14 minutes 32 seconds long. Siddiqui's tweet has a recording of about a minute and 51 seconds -- but has the most substantial part.

In the tape, Maulana Ammar is giving a sermon in which he accepts Indian planes targetted their centre in Balakot. He goes on to criticise Imran Khan for releasing IAF braveheart Abhinandan Varthaman -- who was captured in a skirmish that happened a day after the airstrike.

He says, "Imran Khan has caused us embarassment by releasing the Indian pilot. We won't forgive him."

Maulana Ammar, in the tape, further calls on Pakistanis to join him in spreading jihad. He is also heard saying "India will have to pay for this action."

While it was intially reported that a Jaish headquarters was struck down, Indian officials said the raid destroyed a training camp of JeM, the militant group behind a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that killed over 40 CRPF personnel.

It has also been reported that villagers near the town of Balakot in Northeast Pakistan were shaken out of their sleep by what seemed like an earthquake in the early hours of February 26, only discovering once dawn broke that there had been an Indian airstrike on their neighbourhood.

A resident told Reuters there was a nearby madrasa run by Jaish.

India's foreign secretary, in a media briefing, said a very large number of JEM terrorists were eliminated.

The airstrike near Balakot, a town 50 km (30 miles) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971.

Pakistani officials dismissed the claims, saying the Indian aircraft had dropped their bombs in a wooded area, causing no damage or casualties.

JeM is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al-Qaeda and has been on a UN terrorist list since 2001. In December 2001, Jaish fighters, along with members of another Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, attacked India's parliament, which almost led to a fourth war.

THE AFTERMATH

Tension between India and Pakistan heightened in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed on February 14.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.

India and Pakistan have, since been, exchanging charges and barbs over who was responsible for the attack. While India accuses Pakistan of harbouring terror groups on its soil, Imran Khan maintains Jaish is nowhere connected with Islamabad.

Days after Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out an airstrike at a terror camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammed. Pakistan retaliated by attempting to bomb Indian military installations on Wednesday morning. The attempt was foiled by the Indian Air Force.

But IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistani forces and was later released as a "peace gesture", as termed by Imran Khan.