Terror Attack and Religion-Targeted Killings in Pahalgam by TRF: The Countdown to Act Decisively

The attack was aimed and specifically timed to attract international focus on Kashmir, painting a picture of the distorted facts and falsehood as a disturbed state, compounded by political unrest and violence

- MAJ. GEN. J.K.S. PARIHAR

In a shocking and religion-targeted killing in a brutal terrorist attack on innocent tourists in Pahalgam, south Kashmir, on 22nd April 2025, a massive concern and agony arose across the country and the globe. As reported, 26 tourists were killed by the terror outfit TRF, one of the offshoots of Lashkar-e-Taiba and supported by HAMAS, as revealed in the early reports. The victims included one young Indian Navy officer who had gotten married just one week prior, one IB officer, at least two foreign nationals from Nepal and the UAE, and other civilians who were present. The terrorists identified tourists by their religion before killing them. They employed the deadliest and prohibited weapons, such as the AK-47 assault rifle, along with the M4 rifle recently used by the US armed forces in Afghanistan. The TRF obtained these weapons from Afghanistan through smuggling, undoubtedly with direct support from the Pakistan army, ISI, and terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The Pahalgam terror attack on innocent tourists was the largest in Jammu and Kashmir since the Pulwama incident of 14 February 2019, marking a direct assault on the security forces. The TRF and LeT attack and mass killings, predominantly of Hindus, was well-planned and had an agenda to create unrest, destabilizing the harmony in the country and dividing the Indian society along religious lines all over, particularly in Kashmir, West Bengal, Bihar, UP, and other sensitive states. The attack was aimed and specifically timed to attract international focus on Kashmir, painting a picture of the distorted facts and falsehood as a disturbed state, compounded by political unrest and violence.