Srinagar: Kashmir bled again on Tuesday as militants shot dead 27 civilians, mostly tourists, at the famous health resort of Pahalgam in South Kashmir.
Reports said that militants opened fire at civilians at a famed meadow Baisaran killing at least 27 of them. The attack is the deadliest in Kashmir since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
They said that the exact number of casualties is being ascertained and the toll may go up. The attack came up at a time when US Vice President J D Vance is visiting India and just as the tourist and trekking season is picking up momentum.
Baisaran, about 6 kilometres from Pahalgam, is an expansive meadow dubbed ‘mini Switzerland’ ringed by dense pine forests and mountains and a favourite with visitors from across the country and the world.
Witnesses said that the militants appeared in the meadow around 3 pm and resorted to indiscriminate firing at civilians milling around eateries, taking pony rides or just picnicking.
Videos which went viral on social media painted a chilling picture of gunfire breaking the calm of a regular afternoon with scores of people enjoying their day out. Cries for help were heard as lifeless bodies lay motionless in pools of blood.
With Baisaran accessible only by foot or horses, choppers were deployed to evacuate the injured. The families of those killed and injured were taken to the government-owned Pahalgam Club under tight security.
The entire district administration and police force was mobilised and ambulances pressed into service. Some of the injured were brought down from the meadow by local people on their ponies. Army, CRPF and local police rushed to Baisaran after news came in of gunshots being heard, officials said.
A massive anti-militancy operation has been launched to hunt down the assailants and security forces have fanned out in all directions, they said.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration set up 24X7 emergency control rooms in Anantnag and Srinagar.
It may be recalled that on February 14, 2019, 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack in south Kashmir’s Pulwama area. Since then, there have been other militant attacks but none as serious. More than 30 people were killed in an attack on Amarnath base camp in Pahalgam in 2000.
A year later, 13 people died in a strike on Amarnath pilgrims at Sheshnag while 11 persons were killed in another attack in 2002 in the Pahalgam area.
A tourist couple from Rajasthan was injured in a firing incident by militants at Yannar in Pahalgam in May last year. In March 2000 when then US president Bill Clinton was visiting India, militants killed 35 Sikhs in Chhattisinghpora in south Kashmir in March 2000.
Baisaran, a campsite for trekkers who then move further up to the Tulian lake, is accessible from Pahalgam either on foot or on horses. It offers a panoramic view of Pahalgam town and the Lidder valley
