PM MODI: BLOOD OF EVERY INDIAN IS ON BOIL AFTER PAHALGAM TERROR ATTACK

"Enemies of the country, the enemies of Jammu and Kashmir did not like that. Terrorists and the masterminds of terror want Kashmir to be destroyed again and hence they executed such a big conspiracy."

- TDG NETWORK

Terrorists and their backers carried out the Pahalgam attack to destroy Kashmir again as they did not like the return of peace and prosperity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday and vowed the "harshest" response to the "perpetrators and conspirators".

As the Prime Minister, in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address, spoke of a "decisive battle" against terrorism, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir razed more houses of terrorists and rounded up their sympathisers in a stepped-up crackdown on terror ecosystem after the Pakistan-linked ultras on Tuesday shot dead 26 people, mostly tourists, in cold blood.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) formally took over the Pahalgam terrorist attack probe, registering a case in Jammu on Sunday. Several teams of the agency are involved in searching for evidence and questioning eyewitnesses, including relatives of victims, to uncover the terror conspiracy, officials said.

As the tensions between the two countries soared, the Pakistani military engaged in unprovoked firing along the Line of Control in the areas opposite Tutmari Gali and Rampur sectors for the third consecutive night, military sources said.

The Pakistan military was engaged in similar firing on Thursday and Friday nights as well. "Our troops responded effectively with appropriate small arms fire," said an Indian official.

The Prime Minister said the "perpetrators and conspirators" of the Pahalgam attack will be "served with the harshest response".