KATHMANDU: In a terrorist attack on Tuesday afternoon in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India, 27 people, including Sandip Neupane, a tourist from Nepal, lost their lives, according to reports from Dainik Bhaskar, an Indian news outlet.

The attack took place in the Baisaran Valley of Pahalgam at 2:45 PM, leaving more than 20 others injured. The deceased included tourists from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, as well as one tourist from Nepal and the UAE, along with two locals.

The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front, a wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba. After opening fire, the terrorists fled the scene. Intelligence sources confirmed that the attack involved two foreign terrorists and two local terrorists. In a separate incident in Uri, two terrorists attempting to infiltrate were killed by the army.

Reports suggest that before shooting the tourists, the terrorists asked for their names and made them recite the Kalma. One of the victims, Shubham Dwivedi from Uttar Pradesh, was shot in the head after the terrorists asked his name.

Following the attack, a high alert was issued in other cities across the country. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to India on Wednesday morning. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has arrived in Srinagar and will visit Pahalgam today. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi also spoke with Shah over the phone. Countries including the USA, Iran, Russia, Italy, and the UAE have condemned the attack.

This is the deadliest attack in Jammu and Kashmir since the Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019, when a suicide bomber targeted a CRPF convoy, killing 40 soldiers. The responsibility for that attack was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammad.