Terrorists attack Vaishno Devi | J&K bus attack, killing 9 Hindu pilgrims kashmir.
J&K Terror Attack: Terrorists attack Vaishno Devi | J&K bus attack nine 9 Hindu kill in this attack. The police and paramilitary forces continue their joint operation.
Nine people were killed and 33 others injured on Sunday in an attack by unidentified militants in the Indian-controlled part of the Himalayan region of Kashmir, police said. Police there said suspected militants opened fire on a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims, causing the driver to lose control and the bus to fall into a ravine in the mountainous region.
Vaishno Devi Attact
The bus was on its way to the famous Hindu shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in the Katra area when it came under fire on a mountain road.
Videos posted online and broadcast by Indian media showed bodies lying on a rocky slope on one side of the highway. Read more
Police and paramilitary forces had completed the search and rescue operation by Monday, but the search for the attackers was still on.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but district police said militants had "ambushed the bus."
"Around 6 pm, militants opened fire on the bus," Mohita Sharma, senior superintendent of police for Reasi district in the Jammu and Kashmir region, told the media. "The driver lost control, resulting in the bus falling into a ditch and killing a lot of people."
She said at least two militants were suspected to have fled after the attack and search operations were on.
Indian officials said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took office for a third consecutive term just hours before the attack, "took stock of the situation" and sought the best medical care for the injured. The election campaign has seen a Hindu-Muslim communal divide reflected in the violence, which opponents of Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP party accuse him of exploiting for political gain.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Indian National Congress, described the attack as "tragic" and "shameful" and said it exposed "the true picture of the worrying security situation in Jammu and Kashmir."
An armed conflict between Pakistan-backed Muslim militant groups and Indian military forces has raged in Kashmir for more than 60 years, with regular small-scale violence and occasional flare-ups that have killed thousands.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the predominantly Muslim Kashmir region. While administration of the region is divided between the two countries, they both claim full ownership.
In a similar attack in the same area in 2017, eight pilgrims were killed and 19 injured when militants attacked a bus carrying pilgrims back from the famous Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir.
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