26 tourists were killed in an attack by gunmen in Pahelgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Several more were injured. The Indian government has deployed military helicopters to evacuate the injured.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Saudi Arabia, has instructed the country’s Union Minister Amit Shah in a telephone conversation to inspect the attack site and take appropriate action.
The attack took place in the Baisaran Valley of Pahelgam.
According to the NDTV report, immediately after the attack, Amit Shah called a meeting at his residence in Delhi, where Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Deka and Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan were present. CRPF chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat and some army officers also joined the meeting through video conferencing. Amit also spoke to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Singh.
An anti-terror operation has been launched to neutralize the terrorists. Governor Sinha said that the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack will pay a heavy price for their heinous act.
Tourists were attacked near a resort in the hills of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, several reports quoted Jammu and Kashmir Police sources as saying. They were enjoying the natural beauty of the lush green Baisaran valley when they were attacked. The armed terrorists shot at the tourists one by one, the sources said.
The army and police reached the spot soon after the attack. A search operation is underway in the area to trace the attackers, news agency PTI reported. Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Modi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Union Territory’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Singh have strongly condemned the incident. Modi, who is on a visit to Saudi Arabia, said that no one will be spared.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the incident. However, given the nature of the attack, many believe that Lashkar-e-Taiba or its ‘shadow organization’ ‘Tehreek Labaik Ya Muslim (TLM) could have carried out the killings.