Army says Jaish leadership behind Pulwama attack eliminated within 100 hours

The Indian Army said on Tuesday that it had eliminated the Jaish-e-Mohammed leadership that planned and carried out the February 14 Pulwama attack within 100 hours of the strike on the CRPF convoy. Lt Gen KS Dhillon, commander of the 15 Corps, made the claim at a press briefing in Srinagar.

The encounter

The briefing came a day after three Jaish militants were killed in an operation in Pulwama lasting more than 17 hours. A Major and three other soldiers, along with a Kashmir police constable, were also killed.

According to the Army, the dead militants included Kamran, a Pakistani described as Jaish’s top commander and a close associate of the group’s Pakistan-based chief Masood Azhar. He was believed to have planned the Pulwama attack and handled the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar. The others were Hilal Ahmad, a local bomb expert, and Rashid, from Pakistan.

Army’s assessment

Lt Gen Dhillon said the car bombing that killed 40 CRPF personnel had been directed from across the border by Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI. He said such a vehicle-bomb attack had happened in Kashmir after a long gap and that the Army would keep all options open to deal with it. Investigators had leads on the explosives used, but he declined to give details while the probe was ongoing.

He also warned that anyone who picked up a weapon would be killed unless he surrendered, and appealed to mothers in the Valley to make sure their sons stayed away from guns.

What happened next

On 26 February 2019 the Indian Air Force struck at Balakot, and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was returned by Pakistan on 1 March 2019.

See also: election news.

Originally published on 19 February 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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