Terrorists kept firing for 25-30 minutes, recalls Pahalgam eyewitness

Security forces busy in search operations on April 23, 2025, in the Baisaran area of Pahalgam where 26 tourists were killed and several others injured.
| Photo Credit: Imran Nissar

A day after 26 people were killed in a terror attack in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Paras Jain (40), a resident of Maharashtra who escaped the attack, said that terrorists dressed in camouflage uniforms targeted tourists from four corners of the vast meadow at Baisaran.

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Mr. Jain, who arrived in Srinagar on April 19 with his family and friends, told The Hindu on phone from Pahalgam that he saw one of the terrorists from a distance, and the firing continued for 25-30 minutes. “He was young, must be below 35, [a] man with a gun in his hand,” Mr. Jain said.

The businessman added that there were no security personnel around at the time of the attack, and an Army camp was located downhill.

“When we heard the gunshots, a local told us that the sound could be of firecrackers to scare away monkeys. It was moments later — when we heard people screaming — that we realised what it was,” Mr. Jain said. His wife Nikita suffered a leg injury while trying to run away from the attack site.

Mr. Jain said that the locals had helped them, and that they should not be blamed for the attack.

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“The terrorists asked the name and religion of the male tourists and shot them point blank. They were just shooting people. How could they carry guns to this place without being checked? I am not questioning the capability of the Army but one camp should have been here; the Army knows better though. They came after the damage was done,” he said.

This was Mr. Jain’s first trip to the Kashmir Valley.

“All of us are in trauma. Whenever the scene comes before my eyes, I am unable to bear it. The terrorists were asking if people are Hindu or Muslim. They were firing blindly at those who did not reply,” Mr. Jain recalled.

He said the meadow could only be approached by road or on a pony, and “around a thousand people tried to run away through the narrow path and gates”. In the melee, some tourists twisted their ankles or fractured their legs as they jumped from a height in fear of the gunshots.

“The terrorists came from different directions. One of them opened fire from behind a shop that rented Kashmiri dresses to tourists,” Mr. Jain said. He said he was making arrangements to leave Srinagar as soon as possible.