The 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage attack on 1 and 2 August was the

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of between 89 and 105 people, with 62 others injured in at least five different coordinated attacks by Islamist terrorists in

Anantnag district Anantnag district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a m ...

and

Doda district Doda district is an administrative district of the Jammu division in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kash ...

of Kashmir. Out of these, 32 were killed on 2 August in 2000 in a massacre at Nunwan base camp in

Pahalgam Pahalgam () or Pahalgom () is a town in Anantnag district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located on the banks of Lidder River at an altitude of in the Vale of Kashmir. Pahalgam is the headquarters of the Pahalga ...

. The dead included 21

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

pilgrims, 7 local

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

shopkeepers and 3 security officers. 7 other people were also injured.

Details

A total of 89 people (official count) to 105 (as reported by PTI) were killed and at least 62 were injured in five separate coordinated terror attacks, including the following partial count on the morning of 3 August 2000. * On 2 August, at least 32 people were killed, who were mostly unarmed civilians. 21 were Hindu pilgrims, 7 were Muslims shopkeepers and porters, and 3 were security officials. The pilgrims were on their way to Amarnath cave shrine on annual pilgrimage. Many of those killed were Hindus and Shia muslim porters hiring their horses and services to ferry the pilgrims to the site. Subsequently, then the Prime Minister of India

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

visited

and blamed

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

for the killings. * At least 27 civilian migrant labourers from the Indian states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, were killed in similar simultaneous terror attacks in Mirbazar-Qazigund and Sandoo-Acchabal in

. * At least 11 unarmed civilian people were killed in a pre-dawn terrorist attack in a remote village in

. * In a remote village in

Kupwara Kupwara ( ; ) is a city, District headquarter and a municipal council in Kupwara district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Municipal council Kupwara is an Urban Local Body with elected members which administers the city Mun ...

, militants killed seven members of a family belonging to a surrendered Islamist militant * At least 8 unarmed civilians were killed and 2 more were injured in an ambush by terrorists on a group of Village Defence Committee patrol party members of Kayar village of Doda district.

Aftermath

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

for being determined to sabotage democracy in (then)

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

References

External links

*
Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' news story in pictures. 13 July 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amarnath pilgrimage massacre 20th-century mass murder in India Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks Massacres in 2000 Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir 2000s in Jammu and Kashmir 2000 murders in India Terrorist incidents in India in 2000 Massacres of Hindus in Kashmir August 2000 in India August 2000 crimes in Asia Islamic terrorist incidents in 2000

Details

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading

External links