Two dozen people killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir, in India.

 

Soldiers stand guard at a hospital in the region. BBC/EPA

At least 24 people have been killed in a terrorist attack in the Kashmir region of India. BBC. The attack happened in Pahalgam, a popular tourist spot. The attackers looked for non-Muslims to kill. The area has been cordoned off and police and soldiers are looking for suspected militants. Kashmir was divided after the United Kingdom left the region and it has been a hotbed of violence since. Prime Minster Modi has said violence has decreased but this attack is one of the larger more recent ones. It's also one of the few to target tourists in the region. 500,000 Indian troops are constantly deployed to the region, both due to the terror threat and tensions with Pakistan. 

My Comment:

Another terror attack by Muslim radicals, this time targeting India. It's unclear, at least from this article, if these attackers were local insurgents or part of a wider terror network but what is clear that this was an effective terror attack. It seems that they were able to kill a large number of people and also managed to get away. As of this writing the suspect(s) are not in custody and there could be follow up attacks. 

It's also clear that the attackers were targeting non-Muslims. It's unclear if the victims were Hindus or Sikhs, the report only says that non-Muslims were singled out for death. It's also probably significant that the targets were tourists. The region depends on tourists, or at least Pahalgam does. It's a popular tourism spot and I am guessing that folks will stay away now.  

I don't really have a whole lot of respect for the response from India of this attack, at least in terms of counter terror operations. India has strict gun laws so no civilians could defend themselves. But the thousands of troops and police didn't seem to be able to do much to stop this attack. From the information I have it seems likely that they arrived after the attack was done. 

Is this part of a pattern of a larger return to Islamic terrorism? I don't know. I don't think India really translates to the rest of the world. Their situation is unique and the main terror groups that are active in the country aren't really active anywhere else. And the terror groups that do target the west, like ISIS, are not really present in India in large numbers. 

That isn't to say that there isn't a return to a large number of Islamic terror attacks. There have been quite a few in Europe at least and I would not be surprised if more happen soon. With much of the world distracted by the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, it's possible that resources that had been used to fight these terror groups are being used elsewhere. 

As for India, I think this attack will probably embolden the Hindus. They have been fairly harsh against religious minorities for awhile now and Modi is a big reason why. It's not really surprising if that happens though, it's a fairly understandable response to a terror attack like this.