Pahalgam Terror Attack: Security Agencies Had Input Of Possible Attack Targetting Non-Kashmiris

The security agencies had received information that the terrorists were planning to target popular tourist spots in the region and target non-Kashmiris on their religious identity, sources said.

Security personnel stand guard at a checkpoint, in Anantnag district, Jammu & Kashmir.

Source : PTI

The security agencies have revealed that they had received inputs of a possible terror strike at a tourist destination in South Kashmir.

The revelation comes after a terror attack in Pahalgam, a tourist spot in Kashmir's Anantag district, resulted in at least 28 deaths and several other injuries.

The 26 dead included two foreigners and two locals, a high ranking official said without getting into details. An IB officer was also among the deceased who were shot dead by the terrorists. The IB officer, a resident of Hyderabad, had gone to Pahalgam with his family. 

The security agencies had received information that the terrorists were planning to target popular tourist spots in the region and target non-Kashmiris on their religious identity, sources said.

The agencies further said that the terrorists, responsible for the Pahalgam attack, had conducted a recce in the area before the attack.

The terrorists, considered to be around 3-5 in numbers, had managed to successfully smuggle weapons overground.

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) is set to probe the terror incident, even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah has arrived in Kashmir to review the security situation.

Security has been beefed up across Jammu as various outfits have called for protests on Wednesday to condemn a deadly terror attack on tourists. The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress and several right-wing groups have announced major protests in Jammu city and elsewhere on Wednesday.

In the wake of terror attack, an alert has also been in Delhi and the police have also been instructed to keep a close watch on tourist places and other important sites.

The attack took place in Baisaran whic is an expansive meadow about six kilometres from the resort town of Pahalgam. Armed terrorists came into the grassland, dubbed ‘mini Switzerland’, and started firing at tourists milling around eateries, taking pony rides or just picnicking, officials and eyewitnesses said.