The gunmen walked out of the trees at about 2:45pm. Baisaran meadow, a grassy slope above Pahalgam that visitors reach only on foot or by pony, was full of tourists on April 22, 2025. Al Jazeera reported that the men wore camouflage and fired without picking targets. When it was over, at least 26 people were dead.
All of them were men. Al Jazeera’s account lists a naval officer on his honeymoon, a former banker, a realtor, an accountant and a cement dealer among the victims, along with a Gulf returnee and a Nepali national. More than a dozen others were wounded. Police told Euronews that at least four attackers fired on the crowd from close range, in a meadow about five kilometers from Pahalgam.
Early counts were lower. Euronews, writing on the day itself, put the toll at at least 20 and noted that no group had yet claimed the attack.
A claim and a grievance
The claim came afterward. The Resistance Front, which Al Jazeera describes as an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, said it carried out the killings. Its statement tied the violence to what it called the thousands of residency permits issued to Indian citizens since Kashmir lost its semi-autonomous status in 2019.
That change had already left a mark. Euronews noted a run of targeted killings of Hindus in the region since New Delhi ended the special status, among them migrant workers from other Indian states. Police called the Pahalgam shooting a “terror attack.”
Omar Abdullah, Kashmir’s chief minister, said: “This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years.” Home Minister Amit Shah promised that India would “come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences.”
Diplomatic fallout
Condemnation came from Washington, London, Moscow and Riyadh. Al Jazeera named President Trump, Prime Minister Starmer, President Putin and the Saudi crown prince among those who spoke out.
India answered with measures aimed at Pakistan. It suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty and closed border crossings. Pakistan announced counter-measures of its own on Thursday.
What investigators later said
Eight months on, India’s National Investigation Agency filed a chargesheet of 1,597 pages in a special court in Jammu, WION reported on December 15, 2025. It names seven people. The agency says Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy, The Resistance Front, were the main actors, and it describes the attack as “religion-based targeted killings by the Pak-sponsored terrorists.”
Prosecutors identify a Pakistani handler, Sajid Jatt. Three of the accused, Faisal Jatt, Habeeb Tahir and Hamza Afghani, were killed in July during Operation Mahadev. Two local men, Parvaiz Ahmad and Bashir Ahmad Jothatd, were arrested on charges of sheltering the attackers. The counts include waging war against India, along with offenses under the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Sources
- 'Act of war': What happened in Kashmir attack that killed 26 tourists?
- At least 20 tourists killed as gunmen open fire in India-controlled Kashmir, police say
- India charges Pakistan-based terrorists over deadly Pahalgam tourist attack
