“The agenda will not succeed”
The attacks occurred Tuesday afternoon to three places in the Baisaran valley in Pahalgam where armed men broke out forests and stretched an ambush of visitors with automatic weapons.
The men, who will come from the resistance of the militant group of the militant group, claimed the responsibility of the attack in a message on social networks.
The group said that more than 85,000 “foreign” had been installed in the region after arriving as tourists, promising violence against these settlers.
In a new statement on Wednesday, the cashmere resistance said that “targeted individuals were not ordinary tourists; instead, they were linked and affiliated to Indian security agencies”.
“It was not a typical tourist group but rather an infiltration agency responsible for research.”
The attacks should “serve as alarm not only for Delhi but also for those who support Delhi's questionable strategies,” added the group.
“The resistance fighters plan to intensify their strategic attacks to ensure that the people involved in SAPER … (the) resistance struggle is faced with appropriate consequences.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had been visiting two days in Saudi Arabia, shortened his trip and returned to his country on Wednesday morning.
Modi held a meeting with the National Security Advisor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other senior airport officials. A special meeting of the security firm has been called, said a defense ministry official.
The Prime Minister has decreed the attacks in an article on previous Facebook, committing to the people involved to be brought to justice.
“Their evil program will never succeed,” he wrote.
“Our determination to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will become even stronger.”
Hundreds of security forces rushed into the Pahalgam region shortly after the attacks and a massive comb operation was launched in the forests there.
A hundred people suspected of being militant sympathizers in the past have been called to police stations.
Militant violence has afflicted cashmere, affirmed in whole but ruled in part by India and Pakistan, since the anti-Indian insurgency began in 1989. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, although violence has decreased in recent years.
India revoked the special status of cashmere in 2019, dividing the State into two territories administered by the federal government: Jammu and Cashmire and Ladakh. This decision has enabled local authorities to issue foreign rights to foreigners, which allows them to obtain jobs and buy land on the territory.
This has led to a deterioration of links with Pakistan, which also claims the region. The dispute stimulated bitter animosity and military conflict between nuclear neighbors.
Indian security agencies have said that cashmere resistance was a front for militant organizations based in Pakistan such as Lashkar-E-Taiba and the Mujahideen Hizbul.
Pakistan said that it only provided moral and diplomatic support for the cashmere insurrection.
“We are concerned about the loss of the life of tourists,” said spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Affairs, Shafqat Ali Khan, in a statement.
“We present our condolences to the relatives of the deceased and wish the injured a quick recovery.”
For Singaporeans in India who wish to call the Singapore Foreign Ministry of Affairs, the number 24 hours a day is +65 6379 8800/8855. Or they can send an email to MFA_DUTY_OFFIER (has) MFA.GOV.SG.
