 "Terrorists singled out & shot non-Muslims in Pahalgam attack, say sources & witnesses")
Terrorists singled out non-Muslims in the Pahalgam attack to shoot them, according to sources and witnesses.
A group of terrorists carried out an attack in the Baisaran area of Pahalgam in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday afternoon. The area was brimming with tourists who were taking joyrides on ponies and thronging the eateries at the time of the attack. At least 27 people have been killed in the attack.
After indiscriminate firing in the beginning, terrorists singled out non-Muslims to kill them.
Terrorists checked for circumcision, asked people to recite ‘kalma’
In a video from the site of the attack, a woman said that a terrorist shot her husband after finding that he was not a Muslim.
“We were having bhelpuri and they shot my husband. One man came and said that he is perhaps not a Muslim and they shot him,” said the woman in Hindi.
Read full coverage of Pahalgam terrorist attack here
Separately, sources told CNN-News 18 that terrorists checked people for circumcision and asked people to recite ‘kalma’ to identify non-Muslims and shot them — ‘kalma’ in Islam is a declaration of faith and serves as the allegiance to God. Those who could not recite it were deemed non-Muslims and were shot.
The Resistance Front (TRF), which is believed to be a front organisation of Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sources further said that terrorists did not just ask people to recite kalma to confirm if they were non-Muslims.
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View AllThey said that terrorists stripped some of the tourists to check for circumcision and shot those who were not circumcised — circumcision is considered obligatory among many Muslims but among most of the non-Muslims in India.
In one case, a terrorist walked up to a couple and asked them if they were Hindus or Muslims and, when they told him they were Hindus, he shot them, said sources.
Terrorists wore military fatigues
Terrorists wearing military fatigues carried out the attack, according to sources.
A survivor of the attack said in an interview at a healthcare facility that terrorists opened indiscriminate fire at them from the bushes. He said that even though the fire was not coming from a distance, he could not see how many terrorists were there as everyone was running to escape the attack.
Witnesses said that most of the victims were men and it appeared that terrorists were only killig men. In one instance, a terrorist shot dead a man and told his wife that she was being spared so that she could narrate the horrors of the attack to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As per latest information from sources, four to six terrorists were involved in the attack that involved both locals and foreigners.
Initially, it was said that three to four terrorists were involved in the attack.
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