New Delhi, April 23, 2025: In a swift and sobering decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cut short his official visit to Saudi Arabia following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, that left 26 people dead, including children and foreign tourists. According to government sources, the Prime Minister, who was scheduled to return tomorrow night, will now depart tonight and arrive in India early Wednesday morning. He also skipped the official state dinner hosted in his honour by Saudi Arabia as a mark of respect and urgency.
The attack, which took place on April 22, 2025, is being described as one of the most horrific civilian massacres in recent memory in Jammu & Kashmir. The Resistance Front (TRF), a relatively new but increasingly potent militant group, has claimed responsibility for the massacre in a crowded meadow in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination in South Kashmir.
The Attack: A Targeted Civilian Strike
Security agencies confirmed that gunmen opened fire indiscriminately on tourists, including families on vacation during the spring bloom. Initial reports suggest the attackers used small arms and hand grenades, killing 26 and injuring over 40. The dead include foreign nationals from Southeast Asia and Indian tourists, including children as young as six.
“The attack was premeditated and aimed at inflicting maximum civilian casualties. It was a soft target chosen deliberately to stoke fear and disrupt the fragile peace,” said a senior intelligence official in Srinagar.
Who is TRF? The Façade of Familiar Terror
Formed just months after Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019, the Resistance Front (TRF) is widely believed to be a front for the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Intelligence and counterterrorism experts describe it as a strategic “post-370 makeover” of LeT—designed to evade international sanctions while recruiting local Kashmiri youth disillusioned by political instability.
“This is LeT in new clothes. TRF emerged to present a secular, indigenous face to the world while retaining its old militant machinery backed from across the border,” said a former RAW officer.
A New Militant Playbook: Telegram over Training Camps
Today’s militants no longer cross the treacherous Line of Control to receive weapons training in Pakistan. Instead, recruitment now takes place through encrypted apps, including Telegram and even gaming forums, where narratives of victimhood are carefully woven and disseminated.
Recruits, often teenagers, are radicalised virtually, handed Google Pin drops for arms caches, and paid in cryptocurrency. These “hybrid militants”, a term increasingly used by Indian intelligence, commit attacks and seamlessly return to civilian life, making it harder for authorities to track and pre-empt future strikes.
“The attacker may be a mechanic in the morning and a gunman in the evening. That’s the TRF model—fluid, deniable, and effective,” says a counterterrorism analyst based in Delhi.
Political Response and National Mourning
The Prime Minister’s early return signals the gravity with which the Centre is treating the attack. Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that a high-level security review will take place upon his arrival, including a possible visit to the Kashmir Valley.
President Droupadi Murmu, Home Minister Amit Shah, and leaders across party lines have condemned the attack. The Union Government is also working with foreign embassies to assist the families of foreign nationals killed or injured in the assault.
A nationwide moment of silence is expected to be observed in Parliament later this week.
Security Tightened Across Jammu & Kashmir
In the wake of the attack, security has been ramped up across the Union Territory, with additional deployment of CRPF and Army units in tourist hotspots and pilgrimage zones like Amarnath and Gulmarg. Internet services have been temporarily suspended in several districts to prevent misinformation and unrest.
Top officials from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) have reached Kashmir to spearhead the probe. Preliminary leads indicate the involvement of at least three militants, all believed to be local youth trained and coordinated via TRF’s encrypted channels.
Global Reactions
Several countries, including the United States, UK, and France, have condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with India. The United Nations Secretary-General also issued a statement calling the attack “cowardly and unjustifiable,” urging Pakistan to dismantle militant infrastructure operating from its soil.
