India charges Pakistan-based groups in April terrorist attack in Kashmir

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The charges echoed recent public accusations by Indian officials that Pakistan sponsored the terrorists involved in the killings, a claim that Islamabad has denied.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Pranav Baskar

NEW DELHI - India’s counterterrorism agency on Dec 15 charged militant groups based in Pakistan and six individuals in

the terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people in April

The charges echoed recent public accusations by Indian officials that Pakistan sponsored the terrorists involved in the killings, a claim that Islamabad has denied.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comments about the charges.

The attack was carried out in the scenic town of Pahalgam in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a disputed region that India and Pakistan have fought over for more than three-quarters of a century.

During the attack, men were separated from their families and killed after being asked about their religion. Almost all of the victims were Hindu tourists.

New Delhi’s case, laid out in a 1,597-page document, focuses on two organisations: a little-known group called the Resistance Front, which initially claimed responsibility for the Kashmir attack, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group that has long been suspected of helping plan several terrorist attacks in India, including a 2008 attack in Mumbai and a 2001 attack on India’s parliament.

India said the group helped plan, facilitate and execute the attack, according to a statement by the country’s counterterrorism organization, the National