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Pakistan admits to role in Pulwama terror attack: ‘Tried to tell them…’
A Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber had attacked a security forces convoy passing through Pulwama in 2019, resulting in the loss of 40 CRPF personnel.
Amid the recent heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and New Delhi's subsequent response with Operation Sindoor, Islamabad's top military brass has admitted to its role in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 paramilitary personnel.
During a press conference on Friday, Pakistan's Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed said that they tried to tell India with "our tactical brilliance in Pulwama" about the pride and thrust in Pakistani forces.
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‘Tactical brilliance in Pulwama’
Ahmed, who is the director general public relations for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), was saying that there is no compromise when it comes to Pakistani airspace, land, or territorial waters. "Pakistani people, when they are threatened, there's loss of life, loss of material, it cannot go unnoticed," he said.
"The pride and the thrust the Pakistani nation has on its armed forces, we have always upheld it at all cost. We did try to tell them with our tactical brilliance in Pulwama. Now we showed them our operational prowess and strategic guile and guide. I think they should take heed," Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed said.
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The rare admission from Pakistan comes as a counter to Islamabad's claim of not being involved in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack or their denial of harbouring terrorism in the country.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied its role in the 2019 Pulwama attack. The then prime minister Imran Khan had claimed that India does not have any evidence to prove Islamabad's role in the terror attacks in Kashmir.
“You (India) have blamed the Pakistan government without any evidence...If you have any evidence, we will act," he had said. Khan had said that it was in Pakistan's interest that "nobody from our soil spreads violence. I want to tell the Indian government that we will take action if evidence is found against anyone from Pakistan".
He had even called for a dialogue with India, while affirming that Islamabad would strike if attacked.
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Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack. A JeM suicide bomber had attacked the security forces convoy travelling through Pulwama, resulting in the deaths of 40 CRPF jawans.
India had responded to the Pulwama attack with the Balakot Airstrike on February 26, 2019. In the airstrike, New Delhi targeted a JeM training camp located in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pahalgam terror attack
On April 22, terrorists gunned down 26 civilians, mostly tourists, in the picturesque Baisaran meadow near Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Lashkar-e-Taiba's proxy outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Following the terror attack, Pakistan Army repeatedly violated ceasefire across the Line of Control (LoC) for days before India, on May 7, launched its counter-strike ‘Operation Sindoor’. The central government said that the operation was launched against Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam attack.
The Indian armed forces took out nine terror camps in the targeted strikes under Operation Sindoor. This was followed by four days of intense cross-border fighting and firing before both the nations, on Saturday, arrived at a understanding - a ceasefire deal.
