KASHMIR, INDIA – At least 26 people, including tourists and two foreign nationals, were feared dead after suspected militants opened fire in Baisaran, a popular meadow near the hill town of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. Officials have described the attack as one of the deadliest targeting civilians in the region in recent years.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah flew to Srinagar hours after the attack to review the security situation. He was briefed by key officials, including Jammu and Kashmir Police Director General Nalin Prabhat, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, and Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka. Shah is expected to visit the site in Pahalgam on Wednesday and will chair a high-level security meeting.
The attack unfolded in Baisaran—often dubbed “mini Switzerland” for its scenic beauty—located about six kilometres from Pahalgam. Eyewitnesses reported scenes of chaos as heavily armed militants opened fire on tourists enjoying pony rides and picnics in the meadow.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group linked to the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the attack. Authorities suspect that the assailants crossed into the valley through Kishtwar and Kokernag in South Kashmir.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called the massacre “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years.” Officials are still working to confirm the exact death toll. This tragedy adds to a grim timeline of violence in India’s only Muslim-majority region, where Islamist militants have waged a decades-long insurgency.