Pahalgam, Apr 22: Shrieks for help pierced the skies of Baisaran meadows in this south Kashmir resort as more than a dozen tourists lay motionless in pools of blood following one of the deadliest terror attacks on civilians in recent years in J-K.
Heavily armed terrorists walked out of the woods of Baisaran, a meadow atop a hill here, and surrounded a group of around 40 tourists. The terrorists started firing on the tourists indiscriminately, leaving multiple people dead and injuring at least 20.
Eyewitnesses claimed that as soon as the bullets started flying, the handful of locals who earn a livelihood from tourism ran for safety, leaving the tourists as sitting ducks.
“My husband was shot in the head… he was shot for not being a Muslim. Seven others are injured in the attack,” a woman survivor told PTI over phone.
The woman, who did not identify herself, pleaded for help in evacuating the injured to the hospital.
“Bhaiyya please mere husband ko bacha lo (Brother, please save my husband),” the woman pleaded frantically with this reporter.
As the famed meadows are only accessible by foot or ponies, authorities had to summon choppers for the evacuation of the injured, officials said.
However, before the helicopter arrived at the scene, some of the injured were brought down by local people on their ponies.
The local tourist guides and ponywallahs consoled the survivors even as they summoned more people to evacuate the injured tourists on their shoulders to the nearest motorable point.
As soon as the news of the attack broke out, the roads and streets of Pahalgam wore a deserted look as the tourists, who had come in numbers, left the resort town to safer places.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the death toll is still being ascertained. “This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” he said on X.
More than 30 persons were killed and 60 others injured in a terror attack on Amarnath base camp in Pahalgam in 2000.
A year later, 13 persons were killed and 15 others injured in an attack on Amarnath pilgrims at Sheshnag while 11 persons were killed in another attack in 2002 in the Pahalgam area.
Eight pilgrims were killed in a terror attack in 2017 as they were on the way home from Amarnath shrine.
A tourist couple from Rajasthan was injured in a firing incident by terrorists at Yannar in Pahalgam in May last year.
A video of the Pahalgam attack site emerged showing several people bleeding and lying motionless on the ground while women tourists were wailing and looking for their near and dear ones. Some were too stunned to react and were being helped by locals.
“I’m shocked beyond belief. This attack on our visitors is an abomination. The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt. No words of condemnation are enough. I send my sympathies to the families of the deceased,” CM Abdullah said.
The incident comes when Kashmir is witnessing a surge in tourist arrivals after reeling under militancy for years. Also, the 38-day Amarnath pilgrimage is scheduled to begin on July 3.
Lakhs of pilgrims from across the country travel to the Amarnath cave shrine from the twin routes — the traditional 48-km Pahalgam route in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steep Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
Baisaran is a major tourist place in Pahalgam besides being a campsite for trekkers who want to move further up to Tulian Lake.–(PTI)
