At least 26 people were killed and many others were left injured in a terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday evening, with most of the victims being tourists from other states. Being the deadliest strike on civilians in the country since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, this adds to the long string of terror attacks against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.
A group of militants attacked the minority Sikh community in Chattisinghpora village in Anantnag district on March 21, on the eve of US President Bill Clinton’s state visit to India. 36 civilians were killed in the attack, and dozens were left injured.
Another attack took place at the Nunwan base camp on August 2, 2000, where a group of militants launched an attack on the Amarnath pilgrimage in Pahalgam. A total of 32 people were killed in the terror attack, including 21 Hindu pilgrims, 7 local Muslim shopkeepers, and 3 security officers.
2001
The Amarnath pilgrimage came under attack once again in July 2001, when militants infiltrated the security cordon at Sheshnag Lake and exploded two improvised explosive devices. The attack killed 13 people, including 8 Hindu civilian pilgrims, 3 Muslim civilians, and 2 security personnel.
Another terror attack this year targeted the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar, where a car explosive was deployed by a suicide bomber, killing 36 people and injuring dozens. Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad was blamed for the attack.
2002
In the year 2002, over 50 people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in multiple attacks aimed at civilians and security personnel, the deadliest of them being the Kaluchak massacre. Militants entered a lightly-guarded army camp in the Kaluchak area, killing 36 people, mostly women and children. In a separate attack, militants targeted the Amarnath yatra, killing 11 pilgrims.
On November 23, 2002, nineteen people lost their lives in an IED blast at Lower Munda in South Kashmir on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The deceased included security personnel, women and children.
2003
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The Nadimarg massacre occurred in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir in 2003, when armed militants dressed in counterfeit military uniforms entered a Kashmiri pandit colony. The victims were brought out of their homes and shot dead. A total of 24 Kashmiri pandits were killed, including 11 men, 11 women and two small boys.
2005
Thirteen civilians, including two school children, and three CRPF officers were killed, and over 100 people sustained injuries when an explosives-laden car blew up at a crowded marketplace in front of a government school in Pulwama.
2006
Multiple grenade attacks were carried out across Jammu and Kashmir in 2006, with the first one being on April 14, killing five people and injuring 44 others. On July 11, five grenade attacks were carried out in Srinagar, killing eight people and injuring over 40 others.
On June 12, nine Nepalese and Bihari labourers and a Muslim Kashmiri Indian Army soldier were killed by militants near Yaripora in Anantnag’s Kulgam area. Seven gunmen marched inside the labourers’ working area and opened fire, only sparing one Muslim worker among the group.
2017
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The 2017 Amarnath attack occurred in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims from Gujarat was targeted by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants. Eight were killed and 18 others were left injured after a militants opened fire on the bus. A gunfight erupted between the militants and the security forced, with many paramilitary personnel left injured.
2019
The Pulwama attack occurred on February 14, 2019, when militants targeted convoy of Indian security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. A suicide bomber drove a Maruti Eeco loaded with 300 kg of explosives in a bus carrying CRPF personnel, killing 40 soldiers and injuring 35 others. The attack came as a major jolt to already tense India-Pakistan relations, leading to a military standoff.
On 26 February 2019, the Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot, targeting a Jaish-a-Mohammed facility. The Indian government stated that the strikes were “non-military” and “preemptive” in nature, only aimed at destroying terrorist camps.
Targeting of migrant workers in Kashmir
The targeting of migrant workers in the Kashmir valley has remained a persisting issue, leading to thousands of workers leaving the area after multiple targeted attacks. In 2024, a worker from Punjab was shot dead by militants in Srinagar. Just a few months later, six migrant workers and a doctor were killed when terrorists opened fire at a construction site at Gagangir in Ganderbal district. The same year, a migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Anantnag district.
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In 2022, three migrant workers from Bihar were shot at by terrorists, out of which two were killed. This sparked a massive wave of unrest in Kashmir, leading to thousands of workers refusing to work in the Union Territory and returning home.
