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

NEW DELHI – India’s counter-terrorism agency on Dec 15 charged militant groups based in Pakistan and six individuals over

the terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people in April

and ignited the most expansive fighting in decades between the South Asian rivals.

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 comment 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 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 Dec 15 statement by the National Investigation Agency, the country’s counter-terrorism body.

The agency conducted an eight-month investigation and “traced the conspiracy in the case” to Pakistan, according to the statement.

Pakistan has said Lashkar-e-Taiba has long been outlawed and has disbanded. Indian officials have said that the Resistance Front is a proxy for Lashkar-e-Taiba and, in the charging document, treat the two groups as one entity.

The group’s founder, Hafiz Saeed, is free after brief periods of detention.

One of the deadliest attacks believed to have been orchestrated by the group was the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, during which more than 160 people were killed. Nearly a dozen gunmen arrived by boat and held hostages at a major hotel for days.

India also said it has charged six individuals: two people who were arrested and accused of “harbouring terrorists”, a Pakistani national who was charged with being a “handler” and three people who were killed by Indian security forces weeks after the attack and were charged posthumously.

The attack in Pahalgam fuelled days of intense drone volleys and missile strikes between India and Pakistan.

The clashes displaced thousands, delivered heavy blows to each side’s military and prompted the Indian government to impose a tough security crackdown in Kashmir, which many Kashmiris said felt like collective punishment. NYTIMES