4 years of Pulwama attack: From Balakot airstrike to fears of nuclear war

The deadly Pulwama terror attack evoked a sharp reaction from across the nation echoing in unison for India’s retaliation of the killing. Here are the 10 points to know about one of the deadliest terror attacks in Kashmir.

-A militant rammed an explosive led vehicle into a CRPF convoy of around 78 vehicles in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir on 14 February 2019. The terror attack killed 40 personnel. The attack took at Lethaporra in the Pulwama district of J&K.

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– Remembering the sacrifice of the CRPF personnel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed on the Pulawama terror attack.Taking to Twitter, the PM said, “Remembering our valorous heroes who we lost on this day in Pulwama.”

-The terror attack filled the nation with anger and led to the countrywide demand of action on terrorist and the nation breeding them, ie Pakistan.

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-In a retaliation to the terror attack in Kashmir, Indian Air Force conducted an air strike on a terrorist camp in Balakot region of Pakistan. In the attack, India claimed to have killed several terrorist.

-Pakistan also launched air strikes the following day, during which MIG-21 fighter jet pilot Abhinandan Varthaman shot down Pakistan’s PAF’s F-16. However, his fighter jet was crashed and he landed in Pakistani territory. In addition to the crash of Mig-21, another IAF aircraft was crashed in near Budgam, Srinagar on that day.

– The captive, IAF officer, Abhinandan Varthaman was taken in by the Pakistani Army after his plane was crashed in the Pakistani territory. He was later interrogated by the Army, and handed over to India within a week. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was later conferred with third highest gallantry award, Kirti Chakra.

-Apart from Balakot Airstrike, India reacted to the deadly terrorist attack by withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. It also urged the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering to include Pakistan on its ‘blacklist’, which resulted in the now debt-ridden nation’s addition in FATF’s grey list.

-India’s retaliation to the attack received huge support from the Indians. However, there was a big question about how such a massive amount of explosive managed to escape the security in the region and was used to carry out the attack. A 12-member team of the National Investigation Agency was formed to conduct the investigation in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Police.

-As part of the initial investigation, the car was carrying more than 300 kilograms(60 lbs) of explosives, including 80 kg of RDX. NIA named a total of 19 accused in its charge-sheet and was able to identify the attacker. But the investigation could not reveal the source of the explosive.

-Mentioning about the Balakot airstrike’s episode in his book, Former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said that he spoke with his then Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj who informed him that the Pakistan is preparing to launch a nuclear attack against India. “I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019. The truth is, I don’t know precisely the answer either; I just know it was too close,” Pompeo writes.