Shaun
At least 26 people, two foreign tourists among them, were killed by a group of terrorists who emerged from the dense forests around the trekking paradise of the Baisaran meadows in the upper reaches of Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon. Several others were wounded, including with critical injuries, and the death toll is likely to rise, official sources told The Hindu, though there is no official casualty data from the government as yet.
A total of 191 Pakistani nationals visiting India returned home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Punjab’s Amritsar on Friday (April 25, 2025), after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said.
The attack, in Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir, came on a day when United States Vice-President J.D. Vance is in the country on a four-day visit. Mr. Vance shared condolences with the victims of the attack. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack,” he said in a post on X.
Pakistan believes an international investigation is needed into the killing of 26 men at Pahalgam, Kashmir, and is willing to work with international investigators, the Web Press Global reported on Friday (April 25, 2025), quoting Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
Mr. Asif told the newspaper in an interview that Pakistan was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors.”
India holds that there were Pakistani elements to the attack on Tuesday (April 22, 2025), but Islamabad has denied any involvement.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday (April 25, 2025) participated in a candlelight march held in Hyderabad to protest against the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. The event was organised as a show of unity against terrorism and a tribute to the victims of the attack.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy called for taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He said, “We urge you to move forward, and we, the 140 crore Indians, will stand with you. Divide Pakistan into two parts and merge PoK with India, we are all with you. This is not the time to do politics.”
In a continued crackdown following the Pahalgam terror attack, security forces and Jammu and Kashmir authorities demolished the house of another suspect linked to the assault in Pahalgam.
According to officials, the house in Chotipora village in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir was allegedly linked to a terrorist believed to be involved in the April 22 attack.
In a separate action, authorities also demolished the house of another suspect identified as Zakir Ahmad Ganie, at Mutalhama village in Kulgam district. Ganie is believed to have played a role in the Pahalgam terror attack, which has sparked nationwide outrage. Officials said Gaine had been active in terror activities since 2023.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (April 25, 2025) said there has always been tensions between India and Pakistan, and the two countries will figure it out between themselves “one way or the other”.
“I am very close to India and I’m very close to Pakistan, as you know. And they’ve had that fight for 1,000 years in Kashmir. Kashmir has been going on for 1,000 years, probably longer than that. And it was a bad one yesterday, though that was a bad one. Over 30 people,” Mr. Trump said during a press gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Rome.
