Delhi on alert after 26 people killed in terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam

India's national capital of Delhi is on alert after a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot named The Resistance Front (TRF) killed 26 tourists on Tuesday, April 22, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam region, reported the news agency ANI.

According to reports, Delhi police has been instructed to keep a close watch on tourist places and other important sites around the city, according to Delhi police officials aware of the development, as per the agency report. 

Pahalgam Terror Attack

According to multiple local media reports, the attack happened at around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, where shots were fired in the upper meadows of the Baisaran valley near the Pahalgam tourist resort in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district.

Women and elderly people were among those who became the victims of the terror attack, which killed 26 people, including tourists, two foreigners and two locals, and injured more than 20 people in Pahalgam.

Pahalgam's terror attack on April 22 is being called the worst terrorist attack since the Pulwama strike in 2019. This comes amid US Vice President J D Vance's visit to India, and ahead of the upcoming peak tourist and pilgrimage season. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the terror attack and shared his condolences for the people who lost their lives and prayed for the people who were injured.

“I strongly condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a social media post on X.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among many others who extended their condolences to the people who were affected in the terror attack on April 22. Putin extended his sincere condolences for the victims

“Kindly accept the sincere condolences over the tragic consequences of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam whose victims were civilians — citizens of various countries. This brutal crime has no justification whatsoever. We expect that its organizers and perpetrators will face a deserved punishment,” said Putin. 

How did the terrorists enter Baisaran?

According to reports, the officials said that it was possible that the terrorists could have crossed over from Kishtwar in Jammu and reached the Baisaran region through Kokernag in South Kashmir.

Baisaran is nearly six kilometres from the resort town of Pahalgam. The place is considered to be Switzerland in India, with expansive meadows ringed by dense pine forests and mountains where people come to visit from across the nation and the world. 

Among the people who were killed on Tuesday, The Print reported that apart from a Navy official, an Intelligence Bureau official was also killed by the terrorists in Pahalgam's Baisaran on Tuesday. 

Manish Ranjan, a section officer-rank official of India’s internal intelligence agency from Hyderabad, was killed while on vacation with his wife and two children. However, his family successfully survived the terror attack.