Pahalgam terror attack: PM Modi cuts short Saudi visit, lands in Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in New Delhi after cutting short his Saudi Arabia visit following a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 persons and left 17 others injured, ANI reported.

Modi held a meeting with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Delhi airport, The Indian Express reported.

The attack took place on Tuesday in the Baisaran area, which is located nearly four km from the tourist spot of Pahalgam in Anantnag district.

Two to three militants fired indiscriminately at a group of tourists, most of whom were from outside the state.

Of those who died, six were from Maharashtra, three each from Gujarat and Karnataka, two from West Bengal, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala. One of those who died was from Nepal.

Some of the victims were asked by the attackers to identify themselves by name and religion, a police official, who declined to be identified, told Scroll.

This is the first major terrorist attack targeting civilians in Kashmir since the Union government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

Political parties and religious leaders in Jammu and Kashmir called for a complete shutdown on Wednesday to protest...

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