On Pulwama attack anniversary, Army chief pays homage to the martyrs

On the anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, India's Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane today paid homage to the martyrs.

40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14, 2019 when a Jaish-e-Mohammed ultra rammed an explosives-laden car into their vehicle. It was one of the worst attack ever on Indian security personnel.

The place of the attack was near Awantipora in Kashmir. Pakistan's hand in it became clear when a senior Pakistani official made an admission to this effect a few days after the attack.


The CRPF convoy had 78 buses carrying 2,500 personnel going from Jammu to Srinagar.

Apart from the dead, a large number of other soldiers had been left wounded in the attack.

The suicide bomber who had carried out the ghastly attack was named Adil Ahmad Dar, who was 22 years old at that time.

In retaliation, India subsequently carried out an airstrike — which later came to be known as the 'surgical strike' — on a JeM training camp at Balakot inside Pakistan.

In an aerial battle a few days later, IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft. After his plane was hit, he ejected and was captured by Pakistani soldiers but was subsequently returned to India following international pressure on Pakistan.