The government on Sunday refuted the claims being made on social media, suggesting that the United States used Indian airspace to launch aircraft during Operation Midnight Hammer against Iran.
The Press Information Bureau of India has firmly refuted the allegation and shared a video of a press briefing addressed by Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he clearly outlined the actual route taken by the aircraft, which did not involve Indian airspace.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that as Operation "Midnight Hammer" got underway on Saturday, a group of B-2 bombers took off from their base in Missouri and were noticed heading out toward the Pacific island of Guam, in what experts saw as possible pre-positioning for any U.S. decision to strike Iran. But they were a decoy.
The real group of seven bat-winged, B-2 stealth bombers flew east undetected for 18 hours, keeping communications to a minimum, refueling in mid-air, the U.S. military revealed on Sunday.
As the bombers neared Iranian airspace, a U.S. submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles. U.S. fighter jets flew as decoys in front of the bombers to sweep for any Iranian fighter jets and missiles.
The attack on Iran's three main nuclear sites was the largest operational strike ever by B-2 stealth bombers, and the second-longest B-2 operation ever flown, surpassed only by those following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda.
*With Agency Inputs
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