Pulwama terror attack: After years of denial, the Pakistan military has admitted its involvement in the 2019 Pulwama attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel. A senior officer from the Pakistan Air Force publicly described the attack as an act of “tactical brilliance”.
In another clear evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in terror acts and harbouring of terrorists, a senior Pakistani Air Force official has acknowledged the country’s role in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 40 Indian paramilitary personnel.
The admission, shamelessly boasting the attack as an act of “tactical brilliance,” came at the hands of Pakistan’s Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed on Friday during a press briefing at a time when their military bases and establishment were damaged in Indian strikes after Islamabad escalated tensions by firing drones and projectiles into Indian territory.
The statement broke years of Pakistan’s official denial.
“We tried to tell them with our tactical brilliance in Pulwama,” he said, sitting alongside Director General ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and a spokesperson for the Navy.
Aurangzeb’s remarks have not only pulled back the curtain on the Pulwama attack but also cast doubt on Pakistan’s denials regarding the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
His statement undercuts Islamabad’s longstanding narrative of innocence and its demands for evidence from India.
“If Pakistan’s airspace, land, waters, or its people are threatened, there can be no compromise. It cannot go unnoticed. We owe it to our nation,” Ahmed added. “The pride and trust the Pakistani people have in their armed forces is something we always uphold, at all costs. We tried to convey that through our tactical brilliance in Pulwama; now, we have demonstrated our operational progress and strategic acumen. I believe they should take heed.”
The presence of Lt Gen Chaudhry was particularly significant, given his lineage. He is the son of Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, a nuclear scientist known for his links to al-Qaida and his attempt to transfer nuclear technology to terrorists, which led to his listing by the UN Security Council’s al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.
Pakistan had long denied involvement in the Pulwama bombing, in which a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. Then Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack but insisted the Pakistani military had no role. Islamabad demanded evidence despite JeM openly claiming responsibility, and India presenting a dossier that linked the bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, to the group. JeM’s headquarters in Bahawalpur, located at the Subhan Allah camp, was subsequently destroyed in Indian airstrikes during Operation Sindoor.
Following the Pulwama attack, India launched a retaliatory airstrike on a JeM training camp in Balakot, located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The cross-border operation involved 12 Mirage 2000 jets and marked a significant escalation. Pakistan’s response triggered an aerial dogfight, leading to the capture of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later released amid international pressure and rising diplomatic tensions.
Though Pakistan’s government has repeatedly denied responsibility for Pulwama, Aurangzeb Ahmed’s statement now stands as a de facto admission — one delivered under the media spotlight, accomplishing what years of diplomatic pressure could not.
