‘We are condemned’: Kashmiri tourism pays the price of Pahalgam killings
Al Jazeera
More than 23 million tourists visited Indian Kashmir in 2024 but that is set to change.
Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir – On Monday this week, Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir was a bustling tourist destination. Today, it’s a ghost town.
Suspected rebels killed at least 26 people on Tuesday in the picturesque tourist resort in the deadliest such attack in 25 years in Indian-administered Kashmir, raising fears of an escalation in India-Pakistan tensions.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a little-known armed group that emerged in the region in 2019, claimed responsibility for the attack. In recent years, armed rebels who are demanding Kashmir’s secession from India, have largely spared tourists from their attacks. Tuesday’s killings have changed that.
Along the Liddar River, which winds through the picturesque valley, all the hotels have closed, and the shops stand shuttered. The town, which draws millions of visitors each year, has emptied almost overnight.
“I was so busy yesterday morning, I didn’t even have time to speak to anyone,” Mushtaq Ahmad, 45, a restaurant owner, tells Al Jazeera. By Wednesday, he had been forced to close his restaurant, and now believes the outlook is bleak.
Al Jazeera looks at how years of punitive measures cost billions, filled prisons and did little to curb violence.
After Pahalgam attack in April, India deported 800 Pakistanis. Children separated from parents still can’t meet them.
Trump’s top economic adviser is odds-on favourite to lead the Fed amid concerns over the central bank’s independence.
Russian and US negotiators met in Moscow for almost five hours but there are no signs of any breakthrough.
NGO documents accounts of atrocities during paramilitary force’s April assault on the North Darfur facility.
Comments come after long meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and two senior US officials in Moscow.
Legal experts say there is no basis in the US Constitution for a president to revoke pardons.
Congresswoman Omar calls Trump’s comments about her ‘creepy’ after the US president launches into an anti-Somali tirade.
US is pushing for a non-aggression pact between Israel, Syria, but Netanyahu has shown little appetite for compromise.
Talks to take place in Moscow amid renewed diplomatic push to end long-running war.
PM Modi said he wants those who can’t afford shoes to be able to fly. But shrinking competition is killing that hope.
Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces have also captured the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv.
Samar and Abdulrahman had everything ready for their baby. But rains ruined their plans, as they try to survive in Gaza.