Victims asked to recite a religious prayer before being shot in the head

Among the dead are an officer from the Indian Navy and an officer posted with the Intelligence Bureau, a native of Bihar, who was shot dead in front of his wife and two children.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in recent past, at least 27 people, majority of them non-local tourists, were killed by suspected Pakistan-backed terrorists in Baisaran valley of Pahalgam, Anantnag district, around 90 km from capital Srinagar.

Although it is too early to conclusively identify the perpetrators, initial assessments by security agencies—based on the recovery of M4 rifles and AK-47 ammunition at the LoC—point to the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives. The group is believed to have been operating under assumed identities, reportedly on the instructions of GHQ Rawalpindi, to evade international scrutiny.

The Jammu and Kashmir tourism site defines the popular tourist spot as 'Mini Switzerland' because of its long dark meadows resembling the ones in Switzerland and is only accessible by foot or horseback.

The site of the attack and the victims were selected to give a larger message that Kashmir was not 'normal' as the global audience believes.

The terror attack in which at least three perpetrators were involved was carried out around 3 PM and visuals that later emerged from the spot showed bodies of victims, all male, lying on the ground with their female members crying inconsolably even as locals were trying to help the injured and the terrorised.