Pulwama attack is counted among the deadliest terror attacks on security forces in Jammu & Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were martyred. The attack took place February 14, 2019, when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kilograms of explosives into a CRPF bus moving in a convoy in Pulwama district. The attack also left many critically wounded.
A day to remember:
A group of 2,500 CRPF jawans were being ferried in more than 78 vehicles from Jammu to Srinagar on NH- 44 on the fateful day. The team had left Jammu at about 3:30am and was moving in a large convoy as the highway was closed two days back. CRPF leadership had planned to reach the destination before sunset.
One of the CRPF buses was rammed by a car carrying explosives at Lethpora near Awantipora locality leading to a blast that killed 40 CRPF jawans of the 76th Battalion and left many others injured. The injured were moved to the army base hospital in Srinagar.
Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. Few hours after the attack, it released a video online saying it had carried out the attack. Local police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed alias Waqas Commander from Kakapora area in Pulwama. Adil joined the group in 2018 and was eventually assigned the task of carrying out the attack.
It was a devastating attack carried out against Indian forces decades that shook the country. Many of the jawans had just returned from home; others had called a family member hours before the attack; and a few were speaking to them on the phone when the explosives went off.
The entire country was enraged over the incident and demanded action against the perpetrators. In retaliation, the government later launched an air raid into Pakistani territory that allegedly killed hundreds of terrorists and destroyed their infrastructure at Balakot.
PNN