 "Indian police officers stand guard at a check point following a suspected militant attack, near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district. Reuters")
The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Wednesday responded to the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, saying that it is “concerned” over the situation.
“We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in Anantnag district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the ministry spokesperson said.
Earlier today, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the country has “nothing to do” with the situation in Pahalgam.
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“We have absolutely nothing to do with it. We reject terrorism in all its forms and everywhere," adding that “locals acting against the government” and a “revolution” and “homegrown forces” within the union territory are to blame for the attack.
An outfit linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) known as The Resistance Front , has taken responsibility for the attack that took place on April 22 in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the 26 tourists who lost their lives in Pahalgam on Tuesday were brought to Srinagar today. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who arrived in Srinagar yesterday shortly after the attack, laid wreaths over the victims’ coffins at a PCR in the city.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi on Wednesday to hold an emergency meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsA team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) led by an inspector general has been sent to terror-hit Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said on Wednesday.
The team is en route to Pahalgam, where it would assist the local police probing Tuesday’s dastardly terrorist attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists from different parts of the country, were killed, the sources said.