On April 23, 2025, a tragic attack occurred in Pahalgam, located in Indian-controlled Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of at least 26 people and injuring more than a dozen others. Gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists, marking this incident as one of the deadliest assaults on civilians in recent years. The attack occurred while U.S. Vice President JD Vance was visiting India, stirring memories of a similarly deadly attack in 2000, just before then-President Bill Clinton's visit to the country.
The Jammu-Kashmir police labeled Tuesday’s incident as a terrorist attack, attributing it to militants opposed to Indian rule in the region. However, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which has raised concerns regarding heightened violence against civilians in an area that has experienced turmoil for decades.
This incident is part of a disturbing pattern of violence in Kashmir over the past 25 years. Significant incidents include the March 20, 2000 attack, when gunmen killed 36 members of the Sikh community in Chittisinghpora only hours before President Clinton's arrival in India, with the attackers' identities remaining disputed. In August 2000, suspected militants targeted Hindus participating in the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage, killing at least 32 individuals, with similar attacks reported in the subsequent years of 2001, 2002, and 2017.
A notable attack occurred on October 1, 2001, when a suicide bomber struck the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Complex in Srinagar, leading to the deaths of at least 36 people. The violence continued in the following years, with an incident on May 14, 2002, where militants killed 36 individuals, including women and children, during a surprise attack in Kaluchak, Jammu-Kashmir. Another significant attack took place on March 23, 2003, where militants killed at least 24 Kashmiri minority Hindus in Nadimarg village.
More recently, on September 18, 2016, militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group targeted an Indian army brigade headquarters in Uri, resulting in the deaths of 19 soldiers. The violence reached a peak on February 14, 2019, when a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant carried out a devastating car bomb attack on a convoy of paramilitary forces in Pulwama, killing 40 security personnel. Most recently, on June 9, 2024, another attack claimed the lives of nine civilians and left dozens injured when militants opened fire on a bus carrying Hindu devotees to a religious site in Jammu.
This series of devastating attacks underscores the ongoing conflict and instability in Kashmir, a region where militants have long resisted Indian governance. The international community continues to watch closely as incidents of violence flare in this historically combative area, raising alarms about the safety of both civilians and tourists.
