Identification of three suspects involved in the attack
Tuesday's terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam has been widely condemned. Terrorists attacked the hilltop spot known as 'Mini Switzerland' on Tuesday while tourists were enjoying themselves.
27 people died in the attack, including Sudeep Neupane, a youth from Butwal. One of those killed is a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. The other dead are tourists from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Indian media reported that 17 people were injured in the
attack. The injured are being treated at the hospital. After the attack, some of the injured had to be carried on horses for treatment. All the assailants managed to escape before security forces arrived at the scene. A search operation has been launched for them.
World leaders including US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have condemned the incident. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that his country will give "everything possible" to India to fight terrorism. Similarly, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Naveen Ramgoolam, said that he is united in the fight against terrorism, according to the Indian media.
Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who reached Srinagar after the attack, inspected the scene on Wednesday. Shah, who reached Kashmir's big city Srinagar on Tuesday, held an emergency meeting on the security situation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Saudi Arabia, also returned to India on Wednesday morning after cutting short his visit. Modi has strongly condemned the attack on social networking site 'X'. In the statement of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, it is mentioned that Prime Minister Modi held talks with the Prime Ministers of Nepal, Australia and Mauritius.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh condemned the attack and said that India has a "zero tolerance policy towards terrorism". Opposition leaders in India have reacted strongly to the attack. They have also accused Prime Minister Modi's government of serious security lapses.
Senior leader of Congress party Rahul Gandhi said that instead of making "hollow claims" that normalcy has been restored in Kashmir, the government should take responsibility for the incident. Congress president Mallikarjun Khadge said the terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir was a 'stain on humanity'.
State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called the incident "the biggest attack on civilians in recent years". The Lieutenant Governor of this area, Manoj Sinha, has said that the army and police have been mobilized at the scene. After the incident, the area has been cordoned off and security personnel are checking the vehicles moving in that area.
The Chief Minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, condemned the attack, calling it a "barbaric act that shocks the conscience". West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that her government is taking all steps to bring back the bodies of the three victims from her state.
Indian celebrities have also expressed their grief over Tuesday's attack through social media. Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and other actors have also condemned the murder on their Instagram accounts. "When such incidents happen, it affects our common humanity," Bhatt wrote. Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and Shubman Gill have also expressed grief over the tragedy.
Who is the attacker?
Indian authorities have identified three suspects who attacked tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Indian officials have also prepared sketches of three suspects with the help of those who managed to survive the incident.
The attackers have been identified as Asif Fauzi, Sulaiman Shah and Abu Talha, according to PTI news agency, citing officials. According to PTI, their surnames are Musa, Yunus and Asif.
The attackers reportedly crossed the border from Kistwar in Jammu and reached Baisran via Kokarnag in South Kashmir. According to Indian authorities, their search operation has been intensified. The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of the banned Pakistani insurgent group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Although the insurgency has been going on for three and a half decades in this Muslim-majority region, there has been a slight decrease in the number of attacks in recent years. Even during the three-and-a-half-decade conflict in the Jammu-Kashmir region, such large-scale attacks on tourists were rare.
The Indian government has been claiming that since the partial autonomy of Kashmir was revoked in 2019, there has been an improvement in the security situation and a reduction in violence in Jammu and Kashmir. But incidents of violence have been happening. The last time there was an attack on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir was in June 2024. 9 people were killed when an armed group opened fire on a bus carrying Hindus.
India has been promoting areas including Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir among domestic and foreign tourists for the last few years. According to government data, 3.5 million tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir last year.
