Audacious terror strike at Pahalgam, 27 tourists dead

In the midst of US Vice President JD Vance’s official visit to India, terrorists carried out an audacious attack in the Baisaran meadows of Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing at least 27 tourists, including two foreign nationals, and injuring ten others.

The signature attack is a throwback to Chittisinghpura massacre of 35 Sikh villagers on 20 March, 2000, ahead of former US President Bill Clinton visit to India.

Video Credit: PTI

Highly-placed officials in J&K told businessline that the attack, in the midst of US VP’s visit, is meant to challenge the narrative of normalcy and restoration of democracy and return of peace in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

One Indian Navy Officer, Lieutenant Vinay Narwal (aged 26 years), who was posted in Kochi, has been killed in the Pahalgam attack while he was on leave, according to Defence officials. He is a native of Haryana and got married on 16 April, they said.

At around 2.30 pm, terrorists struck Baisaran, know for its picturesque forests, lakes and sprawling meadows in Phalagam, around 90 km south of Srinagar, and fired indiscriminately on a large gathering of tourists, leaving 27 dead and 10 others injured.

Sources told businessline that two foreign nationals, one from Israel and another from Italy, were among those who succumbed to the attack.

A video of the terror site circulating online showed blood-soaked bodies of tourists lying on the ground with locals trying to comfort their petrified relatives.

“Please save my husband”, a wailing woman tourist was heard saying.

Soon after the attack, the injured were shifted to the Government Medical College, Anantnag for treatment.

A police official said that following the incident, security forces rushed to the spot and launched a massive combing operation.

Police sources suspect that at least three to four Lashkar terrorists were involved in the attack. Though there was no specific intelligence input about the attack, the agencies had alerted about the possibility of tourists and workers coming under fire from the Pakistan-backed terror outfits.

Police sources also stated that a group of terrorists had infiltrated into the valley some time back and do not rule out the involvement of locals in the ghastly episode of worst form of human crime.

Attack condemned

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official tour of Saudi Arabia, condemned the terror attack and pledged that those “behind the heinous act will be brought to justice”.

Modi also spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and tasked him to take all necessary steps in response to the terror attack and visit the spot personally for assessing the situation on the ground.

“I strongly condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected. 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,” PM Modi said in a tweet.

Reacting to the terror attack, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday vowed not to spare the perpetrators of violence on tourists in Pahalgam.

Shah, along with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha who was in Delhi, left for Srinagar in evening to review the security situation in the UT with all stakeholders, including intelligence agencies.

He also stated that he has informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on an official tour in Saudi Arabia, about the terror attack.

“Anguished by the terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. My thoughts are with the family members of the deceased. Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences.

“Briefed PM Shri @narendramodi Ji about the incident and held a meeting with the concerned officials via video conferencing. Will shortly leave for Srinagar to hold an urgent security review meeting with all the agencies,” Shah wrote on ‘X’.

Review meeting

To take a stock of the situation, Shah called a meeting at his residence here in which Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Intelligence Bureau Chief Tapan Deka and Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan were among those present, government sources said.

CRPF Chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh, J&K Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat and Army officials who are part of the security grid also joined the meeting through video conferencing. Shah also spoke to J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, sources added.

This is the first attack of its kind on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. In June, 2024, at least 8 pilgrims were killed and several others injures after a bus they were travelling in was attacked by terrorist in Jammu division’s Reasi district. However, in the valley it is the first such attack over the last 8 years.

On July 10, 2017, 8 Amarnath pilgrims were killed while 19 others suffered injuries in a terror attack in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Timing of attack

The terror attack came at a time when the Valley saw a rise in tourist numbers and a period of relative calm. In the first three months of 2025, the Valley received 5,25,272 tourist, providing a fillip to the region’s economy.

It also coincided with the official visit of US Vice-President JD Vance to India with his family. In a tweek, Vance condemned the attack.

“It is an extraordinary attack. Even at the height of militancy, there were only few such incidents where terrorists attacked tourists’, said Ajai Sahni, the Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management and South Asia Terrorism Portal and editor of South Asia Intelligence Review.

He said that the terrorists were now looking for softer targets.

“It is because their capability to carry out attacks on security forces has diminished”, he said.

CM condemns

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took to X and posted : “ I’m shocked beyond belief. This attack on our visitors is an abomination. The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman & worthy of contempt. No words of condemnation are enough. I send my sympathies to the families of the deceased. I’ve spoken to my colleague Sakina Itoo & she has moved to the hospital to oversee arrangements for the injured. I’ll be flying back to Srinagar immediately”.

Deploring the attack, Lieutenant Manoj Sinha ,in a post on X, said that an anti terror operation had been launched to neutralise the terrorists.

“The entire nation is angry & the blood of our forces is boiling. I want to assure the nation that perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack will have to pay a very heavy price for their heinous act. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families.”

Published on April 22, 2025