Pulwama attack: US tells Pakistan to immediately end all support to terrorist groups

February 15: The barbaric terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir has irked all world leaders. The United States has also joined India to call on Pakistan to immediately end support provided to all terrorist organizations operating in its territory. Sarah Sanders, Press Secretary of the White House, in a statement issued in Washington D.C. said, “The US calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence and terror in the region.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the Pulwama terror attack today and said, “those behind the terrorist attack in Pulwama will have to pay a “heavy price”. PM Modi after chairing a top level security meeting with senior ministers in Delhi said, “The terrorists…they have made a big mistake. You will have to pay a very heavy price. I assure everyone that the forces behind the attack…we will bring them to justice.” Union Minister Arun Jaitley said after the meeting that the government will initiate all possible diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistan’s “complete isolation” and had withdrawn the Most Favoured Nation status to the country.

The External Affairs Ministry of India has urged upon the United Nations to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed and list its chief Masood Azhar as a UNSC-designated terrorist. On the other hand, asserting that Pakistan has “always condemned acts of violence” anywhere in the world, it said, “We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations.”

The 44 CRPF jawans who were martyred in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama on Thursday were returning from leave. More than 2500 CRPF personel were travelling in a convoy of 78 vehicles when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a SUV carrying 350 kg of explosives into a bus carrying the CRPF troopers. There were no survivors in the bus. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Minutes after a ghastly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Awantipora town of Pulwama, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the outfit which claimed responsibility for the attack, released a video of the person believed to have carried out the fidayeen strike. Adil alias Waqas of Kakapora in south Kashmir can be seen in the video, sitting in the backdrop of the Jaish flag, brandishing several sophisticated automatic rifles, starting the video by saying, “By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven, I have spent one year as a militant with JeM and this is my last message for the people of Kashmir.”