Through the lens: How a scenic Pahalgam meadow turned into a massacre site

At least 26 people were killed and several others injured in a terrorist attack in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday. Terrorists opened fired at tourists in Baisaran, an off-the-road meadow in Pahalgam. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

Immediately after the incident, a police team rushed to the spot, along with Army and paramilitary forces, to evacuate the tourists and launch a search operation to trace the militants behind the attack. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

Shops, schools and business establishments remained shut throughout Srinagar and in several parts of Kashmir. The attack on tourists was widely condemned by Kashmiri leaders across the political spectrum, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah calling it “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, returning early from Saudi Arabia after the Pahalgam terror attack, reviewed the situation at the Delhi airport with EAM S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached the Police Control Room in Srinagar on Wednesday to pay tributes to the Pahalgam attack victims. He is also visiting Baisaran meadow, the attack site, and is expected to chair a security review with senior officials. (Source: X/@AmitShah)

“Three to four men in ‘uniform’ descended from the dense forests. They asked for our names. We thought they were policemen,” an officer quoted a woman survivor as saying. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

With no vehicles around, shopkeepers and the tourist guides helped ferry the injured on the ponies towards Pahalgam. By the time police arrived in Baisaran, the terrorists were long gone. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

This is the first terrorist attack on tourists this year. The last time militants attacked tourists was in May, last year, when two tourists were injured. That incident also took place in Pahalgam. (Source: Express Photo/Shuaib Masoodi)

A snow-clad mountain peak rises behind an army helicopter patrolling above the valley the morning after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir. (Source: AP Photo)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah pays his last respects to 26 people killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. (Source: PTI)

Congress leader KC Venugopal lays a wreath to the mortal remains of 26 people killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, at the Police Control Room, in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. (Source: @kcvenugopalmp on X )