(Commonwealth_India) A devastating terror attack in the Pahalgam region of Kashmir on Tuesday evening claimed the lives of at least 26 individuals and left several others injured. Most of the victims were tourists visiting from various states across India, turning a peaceful holiday destination into the scene of one of the country’s deadliest assaults on civilians since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. This incident adds to the persistent cycle of violence that has continued to cast a shadow over Jammu and Kashmir for decades.
The Kashmir Valley has borne witness to repeated acts of terrorism, with civilians often at the center of these violent episodes. The recent attack in Pahalgam is not an isolated tragedy but part of a long trajectory of targeted assaults that reflect the region’s troubled and complex history. Over the years, militants have routinely employed violence against non-combatants as a strategy to destabilize the area and instill fear among the local population and visitors alike.
In the year 2000, a series of violent events marked a turning point in the region’s conflict. On March 21, militants executed a massacre of 36 members of the Sikh community in Chattisinghpora, Anantnag, coinciding with the visit of U.S. President Bill Clinton. The year continued with bloodshed when, on August 2, militants attacked the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, a critical site for the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage. The incident resulted in 32 deaths, including Hindu pilgrims, local Muslim vendors, and security personnel.
Further attacks followed in 2001, including a coordinated bombing near Sheshnag Lake targeting pilgrims on the Amarnath Yatra. The blasts claimed 13 lives, among them pilgrims and local civilians. That same year, a suicide bomber from the group Jaish-e-Mohammad drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar, killing 36 people and injuring many others in one of the most high-profile attacks of the time.
The year 2002 was similarly marked by multiple deadly attacks. The Kaluchak massacre saw militants enter a military housing complex and kill 36 people, the majority of whom were women and children. The pilgrimage route was again targeted later that year, with 11 more pilgrims killed. Additionally, in November, an improvised explosive device detonated on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Lower Munda, killing 19 people, including several women and children.
In 2003, the Nadimarg massacre heightened communal tensions when militants disguised in army uniforms entered a village in Pulwama and executed 24 Kashmiri Pandits, including women and children, after forcibly removing them from their homes. The brutality of the incident drew condemnation across the country but also exposed the vulnerabilities of minority communities in the valley.
The violence continued in the following years. In 2005, a powerful car bomb exploded outside a school in a crowded marketplace in Pulwama, killing 13 civilians, among them two schoolchildren and three paramilitary officers. More than a hundred others sustained injuries. A series of grenade attacks rocked the Valley in 2006. On June 12, a particularly gruesome episode occurred when militants opened fire on a group of laborers in Kulgam, Anantnag, killing nine migrant workers and an Indian Army soldier, sparing only a single local Muslim among them.
In 2017, militants once again targeted the Amarnath Yatra. A bus carrying pilgrims from Gujarat came under fire in Anantnag. Security forces engaged in a firefight with the attackers, resulting in the deaths of eight people and the injuries of 18. Two years later, in February 2019, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of CRPF personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Pulwama. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 security personnel and heightened already fragile tensions between India and Pakistan. In response, the Indian Air Force conducted an airstrike on a militant training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, which was described as a preemptive strike against terrorism infrastructure.
In more recent times, a particularly disturbing pattern has emerged: the targeting of migrant workers. These individuals, primarily from states such as Bihar, Punjab, and West Bengal, have been repeatedly attacked by militants attempting to destabilize the region’s economy and instill widespread fear. In 2024, a worker from Punjab was fatally shot in Srinagar. Shortly after, an armed attack at a construction site in Gagangir, Ganderbal, claimed the lives of six laborers and a doctor. Another attack in Anantnag led to the death of a migrant worker from Bihar. These acts of violence have triggered mass worker departures, undermining critical sectors such as construction and agriculture.
This trend is not unprecedented. In 2022, militants shot three migrant laborers from Bihar, causing two of them to die from their injuries. The incident sparked national outrage and prompted an exodus of workers from the Union Territory, deepening the region’s labor shortage and exacerbating economic challenges.
The enduring pattern of targeted violence against civilians, including tourists and migrant laborers, underscores the formidable security challenges that persist in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite significant investments in counterterrorism operations and political initiatives aimed at fostering peace, the region remains vulnerable to extremist violence. Each attack leaves a legacy of pain, not only through loss of life and physical destruction but also by deepening psychological trauma and societal divisions. These tragic events continue to obstruct the region’s long-held aspirations for peace, reconciliation, and sustainable development in a land that, despite its natural beauty, remains scarred by conflict.
