New Delhi: Today marks the third-year anniversary of the most deadly attack in Jammu and Kashmir. 40 Indian soldiers were killed in the Pulwama district after a suicide bomber affiliated with a Pakistan-based terror organisation rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy.
Remembering them, Indian PM Narendra Modi on Monday paid tributes to Central Reserve Police Force jawans who were killed during the Pulwama terror attack in 2019.
PM Modi tweeted: "I pay homage to all those martyred in Pulwama on this day in 2019 and recall their outstanding service to our nation. Their bravery and supreme sacrifice motivates every Indian to work towards a strong and prosperous country."</p
Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane and all ranks of the Indian Army paid homage while Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said the nation will forever be grateful to our brave soldiers.
General MM Naravane #COAS and All Ranks of #IndianArmy pay homage to the brave jawans of Central Reserve Police Force who laid down their lives in the Line of Duty during a Terrorist attack in #Pulwama on 14 February 2019.</p
Here are 10 facts remembering the dastardly attack and India's action
On this fateful day, the CRPF convoy was attacked on February 14, 2019. The convoy had 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus. Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) had claimed responsibility for the dastardly terror attack.
India avenged the sacrifice of bravehearts by bombing several terror camps on Pakistani soil. The terror attack ignited a series of events, including India’s surgical strikes on a terrorist training camp in Balakot following the capture of a fighter pilot and his subsequent release from Pakistani custody.
India targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan through the Balakot airstrike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on February 26, 2019. It was considered to be the first aerial shoot down after the Indo-Pak war.
On February 27, Pakistan Air Force conducted an airstrike into J&K in retaliation to India’s airstrike. However, in an ensuing dogfight between Indian and Pakistani jets, an Indian MiG-21 was shot down over Pakistan and its pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman was captured.
Due to mounting international pressure on Pakistan to cause no harm, the pilot was returned to India. Pakistan released him on March 1. He was awarded the wartime gallantry award, Vir Chakra.
A top Pakistan Opposition leader recalled the tension in Islamabad after India bombed a terror training camp in Pakistan. The event exposed Pakistan’s Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was perspiring and his “legs were shaking” as foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said during a meeting that if Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was not released, India would attack Pakistan at 9 PM.
India hiked the customs duty to 200 percent on all goods imported from Pakistan, following revocation of the 'most-favoured nation' status in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack
India urged the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) to put Pakistan on the blacklist.
On February 17, the J&K administration revoked security provisions for five separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi, and Shabir Shah.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2019 filed a charge sheet claiming that JeM's Sajjad Ahmad Khan, a close aide of Pulwama attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmad Khan, was conspiring terror acts across India.
In 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet concluding its report against 19 people including Masood Azhar, the chief of banned terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, for planning the suicide operation.