On the 3rd anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane paid tribute to all the martyrs.
40 CRPF jawans lost their lives on February 14, 2019, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed a car full of explosives into their vehicle. It is considered one of the worst attacks on Indian security personnel. The CRPF convoy had 78 buses carrying 2500 soldiers on their way to Srinagar from Jammu. The deadly attack occurred near Awantipora in Kashmir.
In retaliation, India subsequently launched an airstrike on the training camp of JeM situated in Balakot inside Pakistan and later the strike has been called the Balakot airstrike.
During the Balakot airstrike IAF ace pilot Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft. Even his MiG 21 got hit and he had to immediately eject and in this whole process, he was captured by Pakistani soldiers. Later, he was returned to India following immense international pressure on Pakistan.
