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Gunmen involved in Indian Kashmir tourist attack killed: minister / Photo: TAUSEEF MUSTAFA - AFP/File
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Gunmen involved in Indian Kashmir tourist attack killed: minister
Indian security forces have killed three Pakistani gunmen who were involved in an April attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir that led to an intense military conflict between the two countries, home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.
The heavily-armed men were killed in a military operation on Monday, more than three months after 26 people were gunned down in a popular resort town of Indian Kashmir on April 22.
"I want to tell the parliament (that) those who attacked in Baisaran were three terrorists and all three have been killed," he said.
Shah said all three were Pakistani nationals and identified two of them as members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist group based in Pakistan.
"Indian security agencies have detailed evidence of their involvement in the attack," he said in a speech in the lower house of parliament.
Monday's operation took place in the mountains of Dachigam, around 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the disputed region's main city of Srinagar, the army said in a statement.
The attack in April saw gunmen burst out of forests near Pahalgam and rake crowds of visitors with automatic weapons.
All those killed were listed as residents of India except one man from Nepal.
Survivors said gunmen had separated the men from the women and children and ordered some of the men to recite the Muslim declaration of faith.
India accused Pakistan of backing the attackers, a charge Islamabad denied, sparking an intense four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals in May that killed more than 70 people on both sides.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and the neighbours -- who both claim the region in full -- have fought two wars and several conflicts over its control.
Shah said a security meeting was held immediately after the attack and it was decided that the attackers should not be "allowed to leave the country and return to Pakistan".
Investigators relied on eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence to establish that the rifles found on the men were the same that were used in the April attack, he said.
"It was confirmed that these three rifles were involved in killing of our innocent civilians," said Shah.
A shadowy group called The Resistance Front (TRF) initially claimed responsibility for the April attack.
But as public criticism mounted over the killings, the group retracted its claim.
Earlier this month, the United States described the TRF as a "front and proxy" of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
O.Martin--SMC
