Featured Image Credit: X/@kathiyawadii
Topics: India, World News
Joe Yates
A terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 people was unknowingly captured on video by a smiling man enjoying a ride on a zip-line.
Armed militants carried out the massacre in northern India, more specifically at the picturesque Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on Tuesday last week (April 22).
But while the horrors unfolded beneath him, Rishi Bhatt, from was too transfixed on his phone and capturing his elation to hear the gun shots and see the countless people fleeing from the scene.
At least four militants unloaded into roughly three dozen people, with only one local among the dead.
Advert
Kashmir Resistance, known officially as The Resistance Front (TRF), has since claimed responsibility for the attack.
Now, Bhatt has spoken out about the trauma that unfolded.
"I saw five to six people getting shot," he said, as per The New Indian Express. "I unlatched my belt and jumped down, took my wife and son and started running away. We saw people hiding at a spot which was like a pit, so you could not spot someone easily there. We too hid there.
"I found out that men in two families ahead of us were asked their religion and shot in front of my wife and son. My wife and son were screaming."
He continued to say that the shooting continued for 10 more minutes, before pausing and then starting again.
"The firing started again and 4-5 people were shot. 15-16 tourists were shot in front of us." he said.
According to Bhatt, the army then arrived at the scene twenty minutes later.
Two days after the attack, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a fiery warning to TRF, as he 'strongly' condemned the attack during a rally in Bihar.
"We will pursue them to the ends of the earth," he said, adding: "Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done."
TRF emerged back in 2019, and has since been listed as terrorist organization by the US, with the group believed to have stemmed from the abhorrent Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which the United Nations (UN) lists on its website as have been affiliated with Osama bin Laden.
It writes: "[LeT] is a Pakistan-based organization which has engaged in terrorist activity and supported listed individuals and entities, including Al-Qaida and Usama bin Laden'.
The region of Kashmir has long been disputed by India and Pakistan over who owns the territory since Pakistan separated from India in 1947.
India accused Pakistan of backing the attack, however, Pakistan denied any involvement, Sky News reports.
The BBC reports that around 1,500 suspects from across Kashmir have been detained for questioning, according to police sources.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to condemn the attack, writing: "Deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir. The United States stands strong with India against Terrorism."