'Please save my husband': Terror turns Pahalgam into a scene of blood and desperate cries

It was around 2:30 pm when the calm of Baisaran meadows, a scenic stretch in Pahalgam’s south Kashmir hills, known as 'mini Switzerland’, was shattered by the rat-a-tat of guns.

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Moments later, cries for help echoed through the valley as terrified families rushed towards loved ones lying still, many of them drenched in blood. What had been a peaceful afternoon had quickly turned into one of the darkest days for civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

Heavily-armed terrorists walked out of the woods of Baisaran, a meadow atop a hill, and surrounded a group of around 40 tourists. The terrorists started firing on the tourists indiscriminately, leaving multiple people dead and injuring at least 20.

Eyewitnesses claimed that as soon as the bullets started flying, the handful of locals who earn a livelihood from tourism ran for safety, leaving the tourists as sitting ducks.

"My husband was shot in the head... he was shot for not being a Muslim," a woman survivor told PTI over phone. The woman, who did not identify herself, pleaded for help in evacuating the injured to the hospital.