3 years of Pulwama Attack: The day that brought India-Pakistan to brink of war
Highlights
- 40 Indian bravehearts were martyred in one of the deadliest terror attacks
- India then launched a counter-terror airstrike against a JeM training camp in Pakistan
- Abhinandan piloting a MiG-21 Bison aircraft shot down a much-advanced F-16 of PAF
Pulwama Attack: Three years back, 40 Indian Bravehearts were martyred in one of the deadliest terror attacks on security forces which had nearly brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Every Indian shed tears on that fateful day after a cowardly attack from the Pakistani side.
About the incident
On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group had attacked the CRPF convoy in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The incident left 40 personnel dead.
How India responded
Post the dastardly attack, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan. Prime Minister asserted that the security forces have been given permission to choose the timing, place and nature of their response to the Pulwama terror attack. India then launched a counter-terror airstrike against a JeM training camp. In the wee hours of February 26, 2019, the IAF jets bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camps in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan and avenged the Pulwama terrorist attack.
Pakistan's failed strike against India
The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman, who was later released. The Indian Air Force (IAF) foiled an attempt by PAF to strike at military installations in Jammu and Kashmir. In the aerial skirmish, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman piloting a MiG-21 Bison aircraft shot down a much-advanced F-16 of PAF.
When Pakistan Minister admitted Islamabad’s role in Pulwama attack
In a sensational admission, a senior Pakistani Minister in October 2020 admitted that Pakistan was responsible for the Pulwama terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 that killed 40 CRPF personnel and brought the two countries to the brink of war. “Humne Hindustan ko ghus ke maara (We hit India in their home). Our success in Pulwama, is a success of this nation under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and us are all part of that success,” Science & Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in the National Assembly during a debate. Chaudhry, a close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan, made the remarks a day after Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ayaz Sadiq said that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in an important meeting pleaded to release Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27, 2019 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets.
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