Pulwama terror attack: 10 facts about the attack that shook entire nation

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February 14, marks the fourth anniversary of the gruesome Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF members. In Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, a suicide bomber attacked a group of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway. As a result of the attack, 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed.

Here are 10 facts about the Pulwama terror attack:

The CRPF convoy was attacked on February 14, 2019. The convoy had 78 vehicles in which around 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the bus. Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) had claimed responsibility for the dastardly terror attack.

India avenged the sacrifice of bravehearts by bombing several terror camps on Pakistani soil. The terror attack ignited a series of events, including India's surgical strikes on a terrorist training camp in Balakot following the capture of a fighter pilot and his subsequent release from Pakistani custody.

India targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan through the Balakot airstrike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on February 26, 2019. It was considered to be the first aerial shootdown after the Indo-Pak war.

On February 27, the Pakistan Air Force conducted an airstrike into J&K in retaliation to India'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 Abhinanadan Varthaman was captured.

Due to mounting international pressure on Pakistan to cause no harm, the pilot was returned to India. Pakistan released him on March 1. He was awarded the wartime gallantry award, Vir Chakra.

India hiked the customs duty to 200 per cent on all goods imported from Pakistan, following the revocation of the 'most-favoured nation' status in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack

India urged the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) to put Pakistan on the blacklist.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2019 filed a charge sheet claiming that JeM's Sajjad Ahmad Khan, a close aide of Pulwama attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmad Khan, was conspiring terror acts across India.

In 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet concluding its report against 19 people including Masood Azhar, the chief of the banned terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, for planning the suicide operation.