A 'black day' in the history of India-India on Sunday observed the second anniversary of the deadly Pulwama attack that had claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bravehearts on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir. It happened after a suicide bomber rammed an IED-laden vehicle into the security convoy. The convoy had 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar. The attack, which was reported near Awantipora at nearly 3:15 pm resulted in the death of 40 CRPF jawans, while many others were left injured.The attack was carried out by a 22-year-old Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar.
Immediately after the deadly attack on that fateful day that pushed India and Pakistan to the brink of war, the CRPF decided to completely overhaul its SOP (standard operating procedure) for moving convoys on the highways. Instead of moving in large convoys, like the one on February 14, 2019 with 78 vehicles, it was decided that personnel will move in smaller contingents with a maximum of 40 vehicles.
The ROPs (road opening parties), which are placed before the convoy moves on the highway, have been strengthened and trained for early warning mechanisms in identifying suspects who could attack the moving vehicles. Subsequently, there is better coordination between central intelligence agencies, Jammu and Kashmir police and army on possible terror threats, people familiar with the developments said.
A major decision taken after the Pulwama attack was to restrict the movement of civilian vehicles on the highway when the convoys of security forces are on the move.
The Pulwama attack was condemned across the world, including Pakistan's 'all-weather ally' China that backed a UN resolution on the "heinous and cowardly" terror attack.
A 12-member team, which was dispatched by the National Investigation Agency, to probe the Pulwama terror attack worked with the Jammu and Kashmir police. Initial investigations suggested the car was carrying more than 300 kilograms (660 lb) of explosives, including 80 kilograms (180 lb) of RDX, a high explosive and ammonium nitrate.
Lt Gen Hooda said that the explosives might have been stolen from a construction site. He initially said that it was not possible that they were smuggled from across the border, but later said that he could not rule it out.
Later, the National Investigation Agency was able to establish and confirm the identity of the suicide bombers as DNA samples from "meagre fragments of the car" used in suicide attacks matched with Adil Ahmad Dar's father. However, even after a year of investigation, NIA was unable to trace the source of explosives.
While people across India were grieving the loss of lives in the Pulwama attack, the tension between New Delhi and Islamabad flared up after intelligence agencies claimed that Pakistan's ISI supported the militants to carry out the attack.
Following the intelligence agencies' claim, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a stern warning and said that those behind the dastardly attack will have to pay a "very heavy price".
On February 26, twelve Mirage 2000 jets of the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and dropped bombs into Balakot, Pakistan. India claimed that it attacked a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp and killed a large number of terrorists, reported to be between 300 and 350. Meanwhile, Pakistan claimed that they quickly scrambled jets to intercept the IAF jets, who dropped their payloads to quickly return over the Line of Control.
"In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated. This facility at Balakot was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, Chief of JeM," the Indian government said in a statement.
The plan for the Balakot air strikes was laid out by the Indian Air Force, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Indian Army and intelligence agencies. The Indian agencies had identified several possible targets and selected Balakot's Jaba top for the attacks.
On February 27, the Pakistan Air Force conducted an airstrike into Jammu and Kashmir in retaliation for the Indian airstrike the day before. Both Pakistan and India agreed that no damage was caused by Pakistan'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 Abhinandan Varthaman was captured. Pakistan later released Varthaman on March 1.
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