A deadly terror attack targeting tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday drew strong condemnation and outrage. 26 people, including two foreigners and two locals, were killed in the attack, which is the deadliest in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the perpetrators will not be spared and their evil agenda will never succeed. Opposition leaders demanded accountability, claiming the government's claims of normalcy in Kashmir have fallen flat.
Gandhi asked who in the Bharatiya Janata Party government had been held accountable for the security lapses that allowed the attack.
Mohammad Iqbal Rather, 25, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, had allegedly facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq -- a member of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and the key conspirator in the case -- after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in the Jammu region in April 2018, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorist slogans, the protestors demanded action against Pakistan for "sponsoring terrorism in the Valley."
In a statement, the agency said the bail was granted to Yousuf Chopan, who had been arrested by the NIA in a terror conspiracy case, and not the February 2019 attack case.
Twenty-seven months after she lost her husband in an anti-insurgency operation in south Kashmir's Pulwama, 29-year-old Nitika Kaul on Saturday donned the army uniform after completing a one-year rigorous training in Tamil Nadu.
This is a third attack on non-local labourers in Kashmir in the past one week.
At least 40 CRPF jawans were killed after the convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack on February 14, 2019.
'It was inspired by the Hamas attack and was like their attack -- well planned and well executed.'
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
'If they aim to remain aligned with the public sentiment, as any democratic government should, then they must respond. Why else would the prime minister have cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia? And why would he have instructed the home minister himself to travel to Srinagar to assess the situation firsthand? This suggests that something is indeed being planned. I am quite certain of that, although the exact form it will take remains to be seen.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that his "vocal for local" campaign is bearing fruit as Indian products are going global and making their presence felt across the world. He said that India was becoming the land of infinite innovations, finding affordable solutions and offering them to the world. The prime minister also highlighted the country's rising defense products, electronics, automobile sector, and the success of superfoods, Ayush products, and yoga. He said India should be presented to the world as it is, without any bias. Modi said that the country was now emerging as a manufacturing hub and a "factory of the world." He added that India was creating solutions that were affordable, accessible, and adaptable, and offering them to the world without gatekeeping.
"I want to spend one night with you people and understand your problems," Shah said addressing the security personnel at the CRPF campus, adding it was his 'most important' engagement during his visit to the Union territory.
Two persons from Uttar Pradesh were shot at by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Friday evening, officials said.
India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear installations on Wednesday, fulfilling a decades-old agreement that prohibits attacks on each other's atomic facilities. The exchange took place amid strained relations between the two countries over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism. The agreement, signed in 1988, mandates the annual exchange of such lists, which has occurred for the 34th consecutive year.
They said the terrorists opened fire on the vehicle at Botapathri near Nagin post.
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.
Mudasir Ahmed Khan alias 'Mohd Bhai, an electrician with a graduate degree and a resident of Pulwama, arranged the vehicle and explosives used in the terror strike.
The nomination papers of 35 candidates including that of jailed separatist Sarjan Barkati were on Wednesday rejected during scrutiny for the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 244 contestants in the fray.
The grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the road.
New Delhi said if the reports of Azhar's location are correct, then Pakistan's "duplicity" has been exposed as it has been maintaining that the JeM chief is not in that country.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that lost 40 troopers in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack said on Sunday that the country 'did not forgive' and 'will not forget' the supreme sacrifice made by the personnel.
A vehicle-borne IED blast was averted as security forces detected a car laden with 45 kg of explosives in Pulwama.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Zadoora area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir during the night following specific information about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said.
The agency has re-registered the case and formed a team to investigate the terror strike.
A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
Officials said Bilal Ahmed Kuchey had allowed the terrorists to use his house as a hideout and also provided them with high-end mobile phones.
They ultras were wanted for their complicity in a series of terror crimes.
His statement comes two days after Pakistan's Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry admitted his country's role in the Pulwama attack during a debate in their National Assembly (Parliament).
Nine soldiers and two civilians were injured as militants targeted an Army patrol with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Arihal in Pulwama district on Monday.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
Everybody talks of China as the real threat, but we aren't even building a decisive capability against Pakistan, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The explosives are called "Super-90" or S-90 in short, the official said.
The listed terrorists have been identified as Ashiq Hussain Ganaie of Panjran Pulwama and Imran Ahmad Bhat of Arihal Pulwama.
A seven-kilogram improvised explosive device (IED) was detected on Sunday near the crowded general bus stand area in Jammu, averting a major tragedy and a plan by terrorists to set off an explosion on the second anniversary of the 2019 Pulwama attack, officials said.
The assailants believed to be Pakistani terrorists, meticulously studied the site layout before executing their plan.
Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, of Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab locality and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, of Hakripora village in Pulwama district were arrested by the NIA, the official said.
Trolled for referring to the attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed, the Congress leader tweeted again, saying there should be no doubt that the incident was an act of terrorism.
'Strength to the families of the martyred jawans and the CRPF soldiers injured in the attack.'
"The killing of Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bhai alias Fauji Baba, a Pakistani national, is a big success for security forces as he was a master in assembling improvised explosive devices for JeM," Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters in Srinagar.
