The dastardly dimensions of the attack are gradually sinking in even as the Government of India announced its immediate diplomatic and other retaliatory measures. It is generally expected to be followed up with punitive military action across the LoC, sooner than later, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The Indian Air Force on Friday resumed its rescue operations to airlift as many as 190 people trapped in snow-hit Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
'We need to raise the costs and consequences for Pakistan. It is long overdue. Our initial surgical strike was effective for about six months. Then, the Balakot strike provided a deterrent for perhaps two to three years. But we cannot operate under the assumption that such limited responses will suffice for decades to come.'
"130 Helicopter Unit -- "The Condors", of the IAF stationed at Jammu yet again undertook a demanding operation of rescuing stranded people from the inaccessible villages of Kishtwar district," a defence statement said on Saturday evening.
Terrorists opened fire at a popular tourist spot near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly holidayers from other states, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday charged the Jammu and Kashmir government with playing politics on the Kishtwar riots and cautioned that this was another Pakistan design in which separatist forces were involved.
Incidentally, 164 of the total 356 candidates in the fray from the 43 assembly seats of Jammu region got less votes than none of the above, which gives an option to voters to reject all candidates in a constituency.
Curfew continued on Tuesday in Kishtwar for the sixth day running, even as restrictions were partially lifted in Samba district and other areas of Jammu region, which were witness to recent incidents of communal clashes.
Four persons, including two policemen, were injured in fresh clashes which broke out in Kishtwar on Monday as locals defied the curfew to protest against the arrest of a youth for his alleged involvement in Friday's communal violence in the area.
Jammu and Kashmir is facing a severe water crisis this year due to a massive rainfall deficit. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concern about the situation and called for a proactive approach towards water management and conservation. The state has witnessed an 80% deficit in rainfall this year, raising the possibility of drought in the valley this summer. Several water bodies are flowing below the zero level mark, and some springs in south Kashmir have dried up completely. The water level in Jhelum and other major streams is alarmingly low.
Security forces on Sunday claimed to have busted hideout of two Hizbul Mujahideen commanders, wanted for their roles in 2011 Delhi high court blast, and seized huge cache of arms and ammunition in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Curfew remained in force on Saturday in violence-hit Kishtwar district, even as protests against Friday's communal clashes there rocked Jammu and adjoining districts, where normal life was disrupted due to a bandh.
Two top terrorists of Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) were on Sunday gunned down by security forces in a fierce gun-battle in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Acting on a tip off, troops of the 11 Rashtriya Rifles launched a search operation in Sondar forest belt in Taksham area of the district, nearly 300 km from Jammu, a senior army official said.
Curfew was on Wednesday lifted in Kishtwar, 13 days after restrictions were imposed there following communal strife, as the situation was returning to normal.
Mohd Ali, Haji Anayat Ali of Kargil and their assistants Shero Ali and Nazir Ahmad of Kathua had gone to the higher reaches of Warwan in J-K's Kishtwar district to purchase livestock in August 1998 but did not return to their homes.
Members in Rajya Sabha on Monday voiced concern over violence in Kishtwar area of Jammu and Kashmir with Opposition saying the country's "sovereignty and integrity" was at stake and the matter should not be dismissed as an inter-community clash.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir to file a detailed affidavit on the communal clashes in Kishtwar district and subsequent steps taken by the state government to control the situation.
A 32-year-old man chargesheeted in the deadly terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district five years ago has died of a heart attack in the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, officials said.
Kishtwar is the face of secularism that Srinagar wears. The secularism which the Indian government follows is self defeating, feels BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
After two days of violence in the area, normalcy returned on Thursday with shops and market places opening.
Several deaths were reported across the country due to rain-related incidents like lightning strikes and drowning.
Sheetal Devi finished second in the women's individual compound open ranking round with a stunning performance to directly make a round of 16 entry
Security forces on Sunday intensified their operation to flush out terrorists from the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on the second day of encounter that has left two soldiers and a civilian dead.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam turned down the plea of the state government against compensating the injured persons till the judicial commission looking into the incident files its report
The Union cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous elections.
An Army captain lost his life while four terrorists are believed to have been killed in an ongoing operation in the higher reaches of Jammu region's Doda district on Wednesday, officials said.
The government on Monday ruled out any terror or "external aggression" link to the communal violence in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that there will be no repeat of 1990 when Pandits were forced to leave KashmirValley.
Two persons from Kishtwar were arrested on Wednesday and charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with the terror mail traced to Jammu and Kashmir owning responsibility for the Delhi high court blast.
The hideout was dismantled by police in collaboration with the troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a meticulously planned operation in Paribag area of Bhadat Saroor, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar, Khalil Poswal said.
A soldier's family in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar was preparing for his marriage in December but fate had something else in store as the braveheart laid down his life fighting terrorists in Rajouri district.
The encounter broke out after the terrorists opened fire at the search party personnel, who retaliated, the officials said.
A voter turnout of 69.69 percent was recorded in the third and final phase of voting Tuesday in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission said.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday booked Varinder Singh, suspected to be the bodyguard of the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, under the Arms Act in connection with a gun licence issued to him in Kishtwar district, officials said.
At least 36 people were killed and 19 injured when a bus carrying passengers skidded off the road and rolled down into a 300-foot gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Wednesday, officials said.
As investigators struggled for a breakthrough five days after Delhi High Court blast, two men considered close to surrendered militants were detained in Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir from where an e-mail purportedly sent by Harkat-ul-Jihadi claiming responsibility was sent.
The BJP has emerged the second largest party by winning 29 constituencies in the maiden assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
The BJP's Central Election Committee had met on Sunday evening to finalise the party's candidates for the polls.
The accident took place at the Tungi-Morh in the Chowki Chora belt of the district, the officials said, adding that the bus rolled around 150 feet down into the gorge.
Five troopers of the Rashtriya Rifles and a special police officer were injured Tuesday night when the terrorists attacked a joint check post in the upper reaches of Chattergalla on the Bhaderwah-Pathankot road in the hilly district.
