According to government sources, at least 25 people have lost their lives in a terrorist attack at a prominent tourist destination in Pahalgam, in India’s South Kashmir, today.
Terrorists associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) launched an assault on a group of tourists in the Baisaran valley of southern Kashmir’s Pahalgam, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people and numerous injuries.
Terrorists attacked at approximately 2:30 PM on Tuesday afternoon while the tourists were exploring the meadows of Bainsram on horseback.
The group known as The Resistance Front took responsibility for the attack through a social media announcement that featured an image of one of the wounded tourists.
According to law enforcement sources, the Pahalgam attack involved between four to six terrorists, comprising three foreign nationals and one local individual from Kashmir. Ammunition from M4 and AK-47 assault rifles was retrieved from the scene.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated that the exact number of casualties is still being verified and will be officially disclosed later. He wrote on X, ‘This attack surpasses any we have witnessed targeting civilians in recent years.’
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, vowing that those responsible for this atrocious act will face justice.
US Vice President JD Vance who is in the middle of a four-day primarily personal visit to India, expressed his condolences to the victim of the attack.
Following the attack, Mr. Modi immediately contacted Union Home Minister Amit Shah, instructing him to implement all necessary actions in response to the tragedy. Mr. Shah has departed for Srinagar to conduct an urgent security review meeting with relevant agencies.
The Congress party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit, along with several right-wing groups, has organized substantial protests in Jammu city and other locations on Wednesday.
Security measures have been significantly enhanced throughout Jammu in response to various organizations planning protests tomorrow to denounce a fatal terrorist attack on tourists at the Pahalgam resort in southern Kashmir, according to officials.
Officials reported that a high-level security meeting is currently taking place at the Police Control Room, co-chaired by Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti, to formulate a strategy for managing the situation.
In addition, extra police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in sensitive areas as a precautionary measure to ensure peace and uphold law and order.
Kashmir, the Himalayan region, which is fully claimed but partially governed by both India and Pakistan, has experienced militant violence since the onset of an anti-Indian insurgency in 1989. This conflict has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands, although the level of violence has decreased in recent years.
In 2019, India revoked the special status of Kashmir, dividing the state into two federally administered territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Terrorist attacks that target visitors in Kashmir are fairly rare with the most recent deadly assault on tourists having occurred last June, resulting in the deaths of at least nine people and injuries to 33 others when a militant charge caused a bus transporting Hindu pilgrims to fall into a steep ravine.
