'It was our tactical brilliance': Did Pakistan's top air force official 'admit' role in Pulwama? Here's what we know

A Pakistan Air Force officer’s reference to "tactical brilliance in Pulwama" during a press briefing on Friday has triggered debate, with the statement widely interpreted as an acknowledgment of the military’s role in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. The remark came as Pakistan faces heightened scrutiny over the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

“We tried to tell them with our tactical brilliance in Pulwama,” said Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed, who heads the Pakistan Air Force’s public relations wing. He was speaking at a press conference alongside Director General ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and a Navy spokesperson.

“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.”

Ahmed’s remarks sparked confusion over whether Pakistan was altering its long-standing denial of any role in the Pulwama attack. However, military observers noted that Ahmed appeared to be referencing Pakistan’s aerial response on February 27, 2019, which the country refers to as Operation Swift Retort. That operation, carried out days after India’s airstrike on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Balakot facility, saw the Pakistan Air Force engage Indian jets across the Line of Control, leading to the capture of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

Officials pointed out that the Pulwama incident was a vehicle-borne suicide bombing executed by a local Jaish-e-Mohammed recruit, Adil Ahmad Dar. Given the nature of the attack, there was no operational role for the Pakistan Air Force at the time. Ahmed’s reference to “tactical brilliance” is understood by analysts to be related to the aerial dogfight and counteroffensive conducted immediately after India’s Balakot airstrikes.

India had carried out the Balakot operation on February 26, 2019, using Mirage 2000 jets to target what it described as Jaish-e-Mohammed’s largest training camp. The following day, Pakistan launched airstrikes in response, leading to an air battle over the Line of Control. The incident escalated tensions between the two countries but remained limited to the aerial domain.

Ahmed’s statement comes just a week after Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitted that Pakistan had harboured terrorists for over three decades. Speaking to Sky News, Asif said, "We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades you know and the West including Britain," in response to a question about Pakistan’s history of supporting, training, and funding terror organisations.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied any role in the Pulwama bombing itself, which Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for. Following the February 14 attack, then Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected India’s accusations and demanded evidence. India later submitted a dossier linking Adil Ahmad Dar to Jaish’s base in Bahawalpur.

Aurangzeb Ahmed’s comment also comes as Pakistan faces fresh allegations of involvement in the April 22 Pahalgam attack, where similar tactics were observed. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who stood beside Ahmed during the briefing, is the son of nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, who met al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and is listed on the UN Security Council’s sanctions list.