Pahalgam Terror Attack: 5 key reasons why this is the most lethal assault in Jammu and Kashmir's recent past

Pahalgam Terror Attack: At least 26 people, mostly tourists, including two foreigners, were killed and many others injured in a terrorist attack in South Kashmir’s picturesque Pahalgam hill station of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, April 22. 

The attack, which was carried out on a day when US Vice President JD Vance was in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, is the worst-ever assault on tourists visiting Kashmir. Tourists were targeted in earlier attacks, but never has a single attack been so deadly. 

The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, is believed to be behind Tuesday's attack, one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir's recent past.

The last big terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir was on June 9, 2024, the day of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third term held in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Unidentified terrorists fired upon a bus ferrying pilgrims, resulting in the death of at least 10 people and injuries to 33 others in the Reasi district of the Jammu region in the attack.

'Larger than anything we’ve seen in recent years'

In another attack, terrorists struck at a construction site in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district killing a local doctor and six migrant workers in October 2024.  TRF, the banned outfit, claimed the responsibility for the Ganderbal attack too. 

The Pahalgam attack is deadlier than the previous ones in many aspects, apart from number of lives it took.  

 “Needless to say this attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X.

The Pulwama Attack

The Pahalgam attack is biggest after Pulwama attack of 2019 in terms of casualties. At least 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on 14 February 2019, when a convoy of vehicles carrying Indian security personnel on the Jammu–a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethapora attacked the Srinagar National Highway in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

In retaliation to the terror attack in Pulwama, the Indian Air Force conducted an air strike on a terrorist camp in Balakot region of Pakistan. In the attack, India claimed to have killed many terrorists and destroyed terror training camps. 

Is the Pahalgam attack the most lethal assault in Kashmir's recent past? Here are 5 key reasons:

1- US VP Vance in India

The attack comes on a day when US Vice President JD Vance is visiting India. Vance, who began his four-day official tour to India on April 21, was in Jaipur, Rajasthan on the day of attack.

“Usha and I extend our condolences to the victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India. Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack,” Vance said, condemning the attack.

The attack is a stark reminder of the Chittisinghpura massacre in which 35 Sikhs were killed by terrorists in Chittisinghpura village of Anantnag district on 20 March 2000. The attack happened on the eve of the then US president Bill Clinton's state visit to India.

Baisaran, where the Tuesday's attack happened, is in Pahalgam, the popular tourist destination in South Kashmir's Anantnag district.

The attack comes days after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Tahawwur Rana was successfully extradited from US and arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi.

2- Modi in Saudi Arabia

The Pahalgam incident occurred on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Jeddah on a two-day Saudi Arabian trip.

Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia is crucial for the geopolitical order. The world, in general, and West Asia, in particular, suffer from conflicts made worse by economic tensions.

Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Jeddah in four decades. All his previous visits have been to Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Indira Gandhi was the last Indian Prime Minister to visit Jeddah way back in 1982.

Located along the Red Sea coast in the Hejaz region, Jeddah, the commercial hub, is the second largest city of Saudi Arabia after Riyadh. Jeddah is also significant as the gateway to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of Islam and sites of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Modi on Tuesday had a telephonic conversation with Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Saudi Arabia after the Pahalgam attack.

“Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice...they will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a post on X.

Modi Cuts Short his Saudi Visit

Modi cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia in view of the brutal terror attack. The PM  held bilateral talks with Saudi Crown Prince Salman in Jeddah. 

The prime minister skipped the official dinner hosted by Saudi Arabia and has decided to cut short his visit, according to government of India sources. PM is heading back to India on Wednesday morning. 

3 - Biggest strike post 370 abrogation

The Pahalgam attack is the deadliest since August 2019, when the Modi government abrogated Article 370, granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The government also bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in August 2019.

Infact, ‘The Resistance Front (TRF)’, the outfit that is believed to be behind the Pahalgam attack, is a new terrorist group that emerged in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370. Believed to be a proxy arm of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), TRF was formed to provide a localised face' to the militancy in Kashmir, according to reports.

4- Declining terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir

In March 2025, speaking in the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that after the removal of Article 370, the involvement of Indian youth with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir has almost disappeared, India Today reported. 

Shah said that terrorism incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have significantly declined. Comparing figures, he said that between 2004 and 2014, the region saw 7,217 terror incidents, whereas between 2014 and 2024, this number dropped to 2,242. He also noted a 70 per cent reduction in deaths due to terrorism under the Modi government.

5- Amarnath Yatra 2025 and peak tourism 

The terror attack in Pahalgam comes ahead of the annual Amarnath Yatra that is scheduled to begin on June 29 and will conclude on August 19, 2024. The registrations for the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath Temple, a Hindu shrine located in Pahalgam.

The Temple is basically inside a cave situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 168 km from Anantnag town in South Kashmir. The route to the temple is either through Sonamarg or Pahalgam, the tourist destination where Tuesday's attack took place.

The terror attack may impact the plans of those who wanted to visit the shrine this year. There have been attacks on Amarnath Yatra before.  On July 10, 2017, for example, seven Hindu pilgrims on the way from Amarnath Temple were killed in a terror attack. The pilgrims mostly belonged to Gujarat.

The Pahalgam attack may derail Kashmir's about-to-begin peak tourist too. Tourist arrivals in Kashmir had broken all previous records as nearly three million tourists arrived in the UT by December 2024, marking a significant boost in the region’s tourism sector.