Why the Display of IAF's Machismo on the Balakot Strike Anniversary Was Uncalled For "Brashly brandishing our achievements, merely to publicly boost ourselves and publicise them for other unstated reasons is avoidable,â a two-star IAF officer said. Precision strike carried out by Mirage 2000s against a dummy target by the squadron that carried out the Balakot air strike on February 26, 2019, on the occasion of its second anniversary, on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. Photo: PTI Security01/Mar/2021 Chandigarh: The Indian Air Forceâs (IAFâs) much publicised celebration over the weekend of the Balakot strike two years ago against an alleged Pakistani terror training camp in the countryâs north-west, was an âavoidable excessâ, said senior serving and retired fighter pilots.