Report on Pahalgam shows there was ‘real-time intel' sharing between terrorists & ‘Pakistani handlers'

The Print

24-04-2025

Sources told ThePrint that while the exact number of shooters is yet to be confirmed, initial probe has revealed that there were four to six of them at the spot and they all spoke in Urdu and are from Pakistan.
The report, accessed by ThePrint, mentions that intercepted communications and satellite surveillance indicates the existence of coordination between militants on ground and their controllers and operatives based in Pakistan, with digital footprints traced to safe houses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi. Moreover, the intel suggests that the Pahalgam attack involved 'real-time intelligence' sharing and planning, based on the manner in which it was executed.
New Delhi: A status report prepared by the police on Pahalgam says that investigations, assessments, and intercepted communications have ascertained links between the terror attack and Pakistani handlers.
'This is based on eyewitness statements and initial probe,' the source said.
As for the two locals whose names have surfaced in connection with the Pahalgam attack—Aadil Hussain Thoker from Bijbehara and Aasif Sheikh from Tral—sources said local residents had seen them in Anantnag in the days leading up to the attack.
Intelligence records suggest that Aadil went to Pakistan in 2018 and returned this year. So far, intelligence records don't show that Aasif, too, had gone to Pakistan, sources said.
Tuesday's attack claimed at least 26 lives and left 17 others injured. Armed with military-grade weapons like AK-47s and M4s, the terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on tourists in the lush green Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam. Victims were singled out based on their religion and shot in cold blood, while women and children were spared.
After the attack, the assailants are believed to have fled into the Baisaran forest, just 100 metres from the site of the killings. The Baisaran forest is densely covered with Deodar trees.
Further forensic analysis and survivors' testimony confirms logistical aid from trained handlers.
The assault started at around 11 am during which, the report says, four to six heavily armed men wearing military-style fatigues ambushed the tourists. Upon failure to recite the Islamic verses, the terrorists executed the victims from a close range. The report also mentions that the brutality of the attacks and their premeditated nature suggests that it was a coordinated plan aimed at stoking communal tension and damaging the social fabric of the region.
The Resistance Front, which has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in the Valley, has also claimed responsibility for this one—calling the killings a retaliatory act against what it described as 'demographic engineering' in Kashmir, a reference to the resettlement of Indians after the 2019 revocation of Article 370.
According to the status report, In 2024, in the 60 terror incidents documented in Kashmir, 122 were killed including 32 civilians, 26 security personnel and 64 militants. Nearly 60 percent of the executed militants are of Pakistani origin.
Following the attack Tuesday, India declared all defence advisers at Pakistan's mission in Delhi as 'persona non grata' and said they were expected to leave within a week. India also announced that it would hold the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in abeyance.
Moreover, Pakistani nationals who came to India on SAARC visas have also been asked to leave within 48 hours.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also Read: 4 LeT terrorists, including 2 local men with body cams, carried out Pahalgam killings