Current Events :
Local shot too in Baisaran meadow attack | Haryana Navy officer, 2 foreigners among victims | Deadliest strike since Pulwama
Local shot too in Baisaran meadow attack | Haryana Navy officer, 2 foreigners among victims | Deadliest strike since Pulwama
In the deadliest terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since the 2019 Pulwama strike, 25 tourists, including two foreigners, and a local were killed and several injured after being fired upon by terrorists in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon. A Navy officer from Haryana, Lieutenant Vinay Narwal (26), who got married on April 16 and was on leave, was among the victims.
In an image that has gone viral on the social media, a newly wed woman is seen awaiting help by her husband’s side after the shooting. Photo courtesy: X
The attack took place at Baisaran, a famed meadow about 6 km from the resort town of Pahalgam that is accessible only by foot or ponies, said officials, calling the killings “a massacre”. Police officials said the victims were shot from close range.
The attack is said to have been masterminded by The Resistance Front, a proxy for the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was also responsible for the Pulwama strike. An official said the tourists belonged to different states, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, UP and Gujarat. He said the foreigners were from Nepal and the UAE.
Eyewitnesses said terrorists came into the grassland and started firing at tourists walking around eateries, taking pony rides or just picnicking. A person associated with the tourism industry, who reached the spot after the killings, told The Tribune over the phone that he “found bodies lying at multiple places”. “The tourists told us there were three-four terrorists,” he said. As gunshots rang out, there was panic and tourists ran for cover but there was no place to hide in the wide and open space, said a woman tourist. She said terrorists first asked the name before shooting down the victims. In one of the videos that went viral on social media, a woman could be heard wailing and pleading for help. “A man came and shot my husband on the head… Please ask for help,” she said.
CM Omar Abdullah described the attack as “much larger than anything seen directed at civilians in recent years”. Top police and civil administration officials were rushed from Srinagar to Pahalgam. A massive anti-terror operation had been launched to hunt down the attackers, said a security official. This is the first major attack on tourists in the Valley, though individual killings have been reported in the past.
The attack came days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a security review meeting in Srinagar and at a time when the UT administration is gearing up for the Amarnath Yatra, which is scheduled to start in July.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha condemned the “cowardly attack” and assured people “that those responsible would not go unpunished”.
“Spoke to the DGP and security officials. Army and J&K Police teams have rushed to the area and launched search operations. Directed the district administration and health officials to provide immediate care to those admitted to Pahalgam hospital,” said Sinha.
The Chief Minister said he was “shocked beyond belief”. “This attack on our visitors is an abomination. The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt. No words of condemnation are enough. I send my sympathies to the families of the deceased,” he said.
In a statement, the Army said, “In a cowardly and heart-wrenching act of violence, terrorists opened fire on tourists and locals…. A joint anti-terror operation has been launched in Baisaran, Pahalgam and Anantnag.” The Army also said candle march was organised by the residents in Sopore, Ganderbal, Handwara, Bandipora and other parts of Kashmir to condemn the killings.
Northern Command chief describes the Pahalgam terror attack as an act of desperation
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on Tuesday that left 26 tourists dead, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lieutenant General DS Hooda said India has limited options available to retaliate against Pakistan, with military force emerging as the only viable route.
“Unfortunately, the way relations have gone with Pakistan, the only option left is the use of military force against each other,” he told The Tribune in response to the incident.
Pointing out that diplomacy is non-functional, he said there is no economic pressure that can be brought on Pakistan, US pressure on Pakistan has not really succeeded in the past, and China is too strongly in the Pakistani camp. That leaves only a hard, kinetic military option, he said.
“How to execute this option or whether to execute this option is something for the government to decide,” Lt Gen Hooda, who was the architect of the 2016 surgical strikes on terrorist camps across the Line of Control (LoC), said, while remaking that the manner in which Hindus were segregated and killed would put enormous pressure on the government to act.
The surgical strikes were in response to a terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri, which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers. Similarly, in February 2019, after a suicide car bombing killed 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, India had carried out airstrikes on terrorist camps in Balakot in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Commenting on the timing of the latest attack, which occurred during PM Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia and US Vice-President JD Vance’s trip to India, Hooda added it was a deliberate move to send out signals internationally that the Kashmir issue is still unsettled.
“The government has been saying that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved and tourist inflow has increased. This attack conveys a message that the narrative is not correct,” he said.
On the role of the Pakistani Army in terror attacks, Hooda said that there is enormous pressure on them over the problems they are facing like unrest in Balochistan, and it is “their way of remaining relevant.”
Referring to recent statements by Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir on India-Pakistan relations, he said the Pakistan Army is under so much pressure that they are trying to show that they are still the ideological custodians.
Hooda also described the Pahalgam attack as an act of desperation.
“Unable to target security forces, terrorists are resorting to attacking civilians, who are soft and vulnerable targets. The kind of shock they send across the country and impact tourism is going to be enormous,” he said.
“Terrorism is a theatre. You are targeting not the people you kill, but the larger population. Social media narratives will incite the people in the country and try to create Hindu-Muslim divide and that’s the intent of these terrorists. I hope people do not fall prey to such attempts,” Lt Gen Hooda added.
Just six days ago, he was a groom — eyes filled with dreams, heart full of hope, holding the hand of his beloved as they promised forever.
Today, we grieve the loss of Navy officer Vinay Narwal, only 26, whose life was cruelly snatched away in the Pahalgam t*rror att@ck. A braveheart who chose duty above all, but destiny had other plans. The wedding flowers have barely wilted… the memories of the ceremony still fresh… and yet, his young bride now wears the silence of heartbreak, her dreams shattered before they even began.
The weight of this loss is unbearable. A son, a husband, a patriot — gone too soon.
How many more young lives must we lose to this endless cycle of violence?
India salutes you, Vinay. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.
May your soul rest in peace. Strength and prayers for the family left behind, battling a grief no words can ever soothe.
Lt Gen Dhillon said that India would respond with a calculated approach, choosing the time and place for its actions rather than reacting impulsively
The recent terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran Valley was executed with military-grade precision, says Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (Retd), an expert on Kashmir and military strategy. A former commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, who led the operation against terrorists involved in the Pulwama attack in February 2019 and has years of experience in handling terrorism in Kashmir, said in an interview with The Tribune that the broader implications of the attack were an assault on Kashmir’s peace and livelihood.
“The local population is now a stakeholder in peace,” Dhillon said. “The locals do not want to go back to those dark days. This action by Pakistani terrorists is not against tourists; it is against the livelihood of local Kashmiris.”
He described the attack as a cowardly act, saying, “When you kill innocent, unarmed civilians who cannot retaliate against you, and you segregate people on the basis of religion and kill them in cold blood in front of their wives, brothers, daughters, or sisters, I think nothing can be more heinous than this.”
Dhillon emphasised that the killings would not be forgotten and there would be a response. “This particular incident will go down in history as one of the biggest crimes against humanity,” he warned. “The picture of a newlywed girl sitting haplessly next to her dead husband will haunt Pakistan for decades to come.”
He reasoned, “There is no jihad in this, no liberation war. You are not attacking security forces or the establishment; you are attacking innocent civilians.”
He noted that the terrorists likely trekked to the target area and completed their attack within 15-20 minutes, knowing that security forces would be unable to respond in time. This, he pointed out, reflects the distrust Pakistani agencies have in local Kashmiris, relying instead on Pakistani operatives for such actions.
Lt Gen Dhillon said that India would respond with a calculated approach, choosing the time and place for its actions rather than reacting impulsively. “For the response, we have to go at the time and place of our own choosing, and we have to keep Pakistan guessing as to where the response is,” he said. He emphasised that militaries and nations never respond in anger, but rather with resoluteness and confidence in their abilities.
“Nations and militaries act with a feeling of resoluteness, with full confidence in their abilities,” he said. “They will strike at the place and time of their choosing.” He cautioned that India’s planning should be robust enough to respond to a potential second strike, and that the second strike should be significantly stronger than the first to deter any further action.
#TheTribuneInterview #KashmirAttack #GeneralHooda In this edition of #TheTribuneInterview, The Tribune’s editor-in-chief Jyoti Malhotra spoke to the former Northern Army commander, Gen DS Hooda, and asked him why the Pakistan terror group, The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, attacked…
The Tribune’s editor-in-chief Jyoti Malhotra spoke to the former Northern Army commander, Gen DS Hooda, and asked him why the Pakistan terror group, The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, attacked and killed 26 innocent civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir and what the Modi government could do next Watch
Attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group
Security agencies on Wednesday released the sketches of three men suspected to be involved in the terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, near Pahalgam in south Kashmir.
The men are Asif Fauji, Suleman Shah and Abu Talha, officials said. The three terrorists also had code names — Moosa, Yunus and Asif — and were involved in terror related incidents in Poonch.
The sketches were prepared with the help of survivors, they said.
From the pencil sketches, in black and white, they appear to be young and have beards.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday afternoon.
As the nation reels from the brutality of the assault, security forces have launched a massive manhunt to apprehend those responsible and uncover the full extent of the operation behind this chilling act of terror.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Delhi airport upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia to take stock of the situation.
Terrorists struck at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others. The deceased included two foreigners — from the UAE and Nepal — and two locals.
Home Minister Amit Shah, who reached Srinagar on Tuesday night, assured the survivors of the attack that the perpetrators of the dastardly act would be brought to justice, officials said.
An NIA team headed by an inspector general is on way to Pahalgam to provide assistance to the local police probing Tuesday’s dastardly terrorist attack, sources said. — with PTI
Adil, the only local resident among the victims, was shot after he confronted the attackers, asking them why they were killing innocent tourists, his family said
On Tuesday morning, 28-year-old, a ponywala from the remote Hapatnar area of Pahalgam, left home as usual, telling his father he would return by evening. But by nightfall, his father Syed Haider received devastating news — Adil was among the 26 people killed in the terror attack at Baisaran meadows.Adil, the only local resident among the victims, was shot after he confronted the attackers, asking them why they were killing innocent tourists, his family said.
His younger brother, Syed Naushad, recounted what he learnt from a woman survivor at Srinagar hospital: “She told me that when Adil saw the father of a woman tourist get shot, he confronted the attackers and said, ‘Why are you killing innocents?’ The attackers then fired at him too.”
Adil, who routinely left for Baisaran every morning, was the sole breadwinner for his family — a wife, parents, two brothers and three sisters.
“My son died trying to save tourists. We are shattered,” Haider told The Tribune at their home on Wednesday. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah attended Adil’s funeral, hailing his bravery in standing up to the armed assailants.
According to Omar, Adil had even attempted to snatch a rifle from one of the terrorists, which led to him being targeted and killed. He assured the family that the government would support them: “We are with them and will help them as much as we can.” Adil was laid to rest at the ancestral graveyard in his village, where hundreds of mourners gathered to bid him a tearful farewell and salute his sacrifice.
The villagers also voiced concern about the future of their tourism-dependent economy. “Many families here rely on tourism. This attack has hit us all very hard,” Mohammed Rayees said, adding, “We are praying that the situation normalises soon.”
Curtails diplomatic engagement with Pak, high commission strength to be brought down to 30
India on Wednesday suspended the Indus Water Treaty and closed the Integrated Check Post at Attari besides cutting down its diplomatic engagement with Pakistan in a response to its neighbour after the Pahalgam terror attack.
It announced the move to lower the strength of the high commission staff in Delhi and Islamabad to 30 as against the present 55.
In a special briefing to unveil the decisions taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of the terror attack, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the CCS had reviewed the overall security situation and directed all forces to maintain high vigil.
“The CCS resolved that perpetrators of the attack will be brought to justice and its sponsors held to account,” Misri said.
Among immediate measures India has taken in response to the attack by Pakistan-trained terrorists is immediate suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960. “The Treaty will be held in abeyance until Pakistan credibly abjures support for cross-border terrorism,” Misri said.
He announced that the Integrated Check Post at Attari will be closed with immediate effect. “Those who have crossed over with valid endorsements may return though that route before May 1,” the Foreign Secretary announced.
Pakistan nationals will not be permitted to travel to India on SAARC visa exemption scheme and all such visas to Pakistan nationals will be deemed cancelled. “Those in India on this visa category have 48 hours to leave India,” said Misri.
He said the CCS had decided to declare defence, naval, military and air advisers in the Pakistan High Commission persona non grata and they have a week to leave India.
“India will also withdraw these advisers from the High Commission in Islamabad. These posts are deemed annulled. Support staff of these advisers also will be withdrawn from the high commissions. The overall strength of the high commissions will be brought down to 30 from 55 effective May 1,” he said.
