'We did not forget, we did not forgive': India marks one year since bombing of troops in Pulwama, Kashmir

RT
Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC

© REUTERS/Danish Ismail

Forensic officials inspect the wreckage of a bus after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Thursday, in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, February 15, 2019.

India has unveiled a memorial for the 40 troops killed in a suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir a year ago on Friday. The incident sparked a tense standoff that brought the region to the brink of war.

Tributes to the servicemen that lost their lives in the February 14, 2019 attack in Kashmir's disputed Pulwama district were led by PM Narendra Modi and other top government, as well as military, officials.

"They were exceptional individuals who devoted their lives to serving and protecting our nation. India will never forget their martyrdom," Modi tweeted early Friday morning.

Denouncing the bombing as a "dastardly attack," Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that India "will never forget their sacrifice."

The message was echoed by Home Minister Amit Shah, who tweeted that the Indian people "would be forever grateful" to those who "made supreme sacrifice for the sovereignty and integrity" of the nation.

India's Central Reserve Police Force, which the slain servicemen belonged to, vowed to avenge their deaths, tweeting: "WE DID NOT FORGET, WE DID NOT FORGIVE."

A special memorial that features plaques for all 40 soldiers was unveiled two kilometers from the site of the attack.

The February terrorist attack fueled tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, bringing the two nuclear-armed powers almost to the point of a major military conflict. Retaliating to the attack by the hardline Islamist Jaish-e-Mohammed group, India struck what it claimed was the militants' training camp on Pakistani territory. Islamabad, however, vehemently denied allegations that it was harboring terrorists.

The flare-up escalated into intense cross-border shelling and culminated in an aerial dogfight that saw an Indian jet being downed and its pilot captured by the Pakistani military.

Comment: In the latest cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan, one civilian was killed and 3 were injured in Shahpur, Jammu & Kashmir:

One civilian was killed and several others were injured by artillery fire near a mosque after the Pakistani army violated a ceasefire in disputed Kashmir, India's police chief has said.

Pakistani troops fired heavy mortars and small arms toward army outposts in the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch District of India's Jammu and Kashmir region on Friday, Indian media reported, citing military officials.

The district's Superintendent of Police Ramesh Kumar Angral said that a shell exploded near a mosque in the Shahpur area, killing a civilian and injuring three others when they were heading for Friday prayers. Other reports said that four people were injured. The Pakistani military did not comment on the alleged incident.

On Thursday, the Indian army and police busted a weapons cache belonging to local militant groups, recovering several pieces of firearms and ammunition.