Pahalgam terror attack: ‘They were there at least for 20 minutes, undeterred, moving around and opening fire’

PAHALGAM: One woman survivor of the Pahalgam terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir described how men in uniform emerged from forests at a meadow where tourists were enjoying the peace of nature.

Survivors said they had assumed they were policemen.

“They were there at least for 20 minutes, undeterred, moving around and opening fire”, The Indian Express newspaper reported quoting the survivor as saying.

“It seemed like an eternity”.

“I cannot say how many, but the militants came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” an eyewitness, who provides ponies for tourists, told AFP.

The witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity as authorities barred them from speaking, said the gunmen “very clearly spared women and kept shooting at men”.

“Sometimes single shot and sometimes many bullets” they said. “It was like a storm.”

Pallavi, from India’s southern Karnataka state, said the attack “felt like a bad dream” as her husband was killed in front of her and their son.

They were attacked by “three to four people,” India Today quoted her as saying.

“I told them - kill me too...One of them said, ‘I won’t kill you. Go tell this to Modi’.”

Another victim was an Indore resident identified as Sushil Nathaniel, who worked as a branch manager for LIC. He, along with his wife, Jennifer, his daughter Akanksha (around 30) and his son Austin (around 22), went to Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, April 19.

The wife of Sushil’s brother, Vikas, Jema Vikas, spoke to ANI and shared that they received information about the matter on Tuesday night at around 9:30 pm, after Sushil’s son, Austin, called them. Later, Sushil’s wife, Jennifer, shared the details of the incident.

“Jennifer Bhabhi said that the terrorist asked Sushil bhaiya to recite Kalma (declaration of faith) on his knees, following which Bhaiya reciprocated that he was Christian, and Bhaiya told Bhabhi to move aside from there. In the meantime, the terrorist shot Bhaiya, and he died on the spot. Our niece, Akansha also sustained bullet injuries in her leg,” Jema said.

“Additionally, Sushil’s son Austin informed them that they were going to the hospital in an Army vehicle. The bullet was removed, and first aid was given to his sister,” she added.

“The terrorists targeted the gents; all of them were together, and Bhaiya asked Bhabhi to move aside. Thereafter, the terrorist asked Bhaiya and then shot him. We want the terrorists not to be spared; they should be searched and then punished so that such incidents should not occur again,” Jema further said.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir dubbed “Little Switzerland”, and its mountain meadows are usually packed with visitors escaping the sweltering summer heat in the lowland plains of India.

On Wednesday, a day after gunmen killed 26 men in an attack on the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reported an “exodus of our guests”.

For New Delhi, the 3.5 million tourists who it says visited Kashmir in 2024 - mostly domestic visitors - illustrated what officials called “normalcy and peace” returning to the troubled region after a massive crackdown.

India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory.

A day after the attack, the region’s deadliest assault on civilians since 2000, tourists scrambled to leave, cramming into buses and taxis, while hoteliers reported a surge of cancellations.

At Pahalgam, the site of the attack, the usually tranquil meadows surrounded by pine forests and snowcapped mountains, reverberated with the thumping sounds of military helicopters taking part in a vast manhunt for the attackers.

Around 24 hours after the attack, smears of blood were still visible at the site of attack, now patrolled by soldiers dressed in bulletproof jackets.

Soldiers guarded the entrance, as forensic investigators collected evidence.

Until Tuesday afternoon, Hotel Mount View in Pahalgam was sold out for months, manager Abdul Salam told AFP.

But since news of the killings broke, he has been inundated with people scrapping their travel plans.

“This tragedy will paralyse business in Kashmir,” he said. “We are trying hard to reassure our customers who may still want to come.”

Indian authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region known for its lush valleys as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months, and to escape the sweltering heat elsewhere in India during the summer.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the exodus of our guests from the valley after yesterday’s tragic terror attack in Pahalgam, but at the same time we totally understand why people would want to leave,” Abdullah said in a statement.

India’s Director General of Civil Aviation Faiz Ahmed Kidwai issued a letter which called on airlines to “take swift action to increase the number of flights...facilitating the evacuation of tourists”.

Air India said Wednesday it had laid on extra flights “in view of the prevailing situation”.

Tourist Paras Sawla, from India’s financial hub Mumbai, said many visitors were “fearful” after the attack.

He was seeking to get the first flight home that he could.

But the saddest part, he said, was that ordinary Kashmiri people, famous for their hospitality, were doing all they could to help.

“We are not scared of the public here”, Sawla said. “They are very supportive, helping out with whatever we need.”