28 Killed in Pahalgam Terror Attack : PM Returns To India ; Rahul Gandhi Dials Shah, Omar Abdullah

NEW DELHI: At least 28 people, mostly tourists, have lost their lives in the terror attack near Kashmir’s Pahalgam town in Anantnag district on Tuesday afternoon, in what is the deadliest attack in the Kashmir Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.Over 20 persons have been injured in the carnage,according to reports.

The 28 dead included two foreigners,according to reports. two locals, a high-ranking official said without getting into details, though the government is yet to announce an official death toll. The toll was still being ascertained, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had said in an earlier social media post, while describing the terror attack as “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years".

Armed terrorists rushed into the grassland, dubbed ‘mini Switzerland’, and began firing at tourists milling around eateries, taking pony rides or just picnicking, officials and eyewitnesses said. At least 20 people were injured in the strike in the volatile Kashmir Valley, where tourists have so far mostly been spared.

According to media reports, The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-backed terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was targeted at Baisaran, about six kilometres from the resort town of Pahalgam, an expansive meadow ringed by dense pine forests and mountains and a favourite with tourists.

The attack, which comes as US vice-president J.D. Vance is visiting India and just as the tourist and trekking season is picking up momentum, took place at around 3.00 pm, officials said.

Following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his Saudi Arabia visit and returned to Delhi on Wednesday morning.

At Delhi Airport, NSA Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and the Foreign Secretary briefed him on the Pahalgam attack. Shortly, PM Modi will chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has spoken with Home Minister Shah, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and J&K Pradesh Congress Committee President Tariq Karra. He called for justice for the victims and assured the bereaved families of his party’s full support.

The Congress on Tuesday had asked the government to take accountability for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir instead of making "hollow claims" on the situation being normal in the Union Territory and demanded that an all-party meeting be called to take political parties into confidence.

The opposition party denounced the terror attack as a blot on humanity and said it should not go "unanswered effectively".

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