Kashmir terror attack one of the worst in recent times – as Modi to return to India overnight
A terror attack has shattered the peace and tranquillity of Kashmir.
Families were enjoying their holidays in an off-road meadow in Pahalgam – known as ‘Mini Switzerland’ – when militants opened fire, killing many and injuring dozens.
The injured were rushed to hospitals. Many were still in shock and distress.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and is expected to be back in India overnight.
In a statement on X, he said: “Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice…they will not be spared!
“Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable, and it will get even stronger.”
Security forces have rushed to the site of the attack and have put up cordons, checking vehicles. Military helicopters were conducting sorties and scanning the area.
This is one of the worst terror attacks in recent times: Tourists have largely been spared by militants so far, though there have been sporadic attacks on workers from outside the state of Kashmir.
In 2019, an attack by a suicide bomber in a vehicle on a military convoy killed 40 paramilitary soldiers.
India blamed Pakistan for giving shelter to Islamist terrorists and conducted limited airstrikes across the border.
A tense standoff between two nuclear-armed countries has lasted since.
Last week, while addressing the Overseas Pakistani Convention in Islamabad, the Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir said: “Our stance is absolutely clear, it was our (Kashmir) jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, we will not forget it.
“We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle.”
In response, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein?
“This is a Union Territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country.”
India and Pakistan have fought several wars and conflicts since their independence from Britain in 1947, primarily due to territorial disputes over Kashmir.
India blames Pakistan for sheltering and arming Islamist militants to fight its security forces. For decades, an armed insurgency against the Indian state has been going in.
In 2019, the Modi government ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in India.
It then went further by demoting the state to a union territory, bringing it directly under the control of Delhi.
Thousands of soldiers of the Indian Army, paramilitary and police personnel are deployed in the valley.
The boots on the ground have brought down the number of attacks by militants, but there is an uneasy peace, sometimes broken by mindless violence, and it is ordinary people who pay the highest price.