In a preliminary report, the NIA concluded that the attack was committed under directives issued by senior operatives of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Islamist UN-designated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), initially claimed responsibility for the attack. The article lists the perpetrators as Lashkar-e-Taiba and The Resistance Front, and notes that Indian authorities are treating the incident as a cross‑border terror operation directed from Pakistan.

New Delhi has attributed the attack to militants with "cross-border connections." Indian authorities have indicated that the attack on Tuesday had "cross-border connections." Notices from Kashmiri police identifying three individuals "linked" to the incident revealed that two of them were Pakistani nationals. In response, Pakistan asserted that India's allegations made without "credible" or "verifiable evidence," labeling them as "frivolous" and "lacking rationality." Islamabad has urged India to avoid "reflexive blame" and acknowledge its "failure to ensure security" for its citizens.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), which focuses on counter-terrorism efforts, has levelled charges against two militant organisations based in Pakistan and six individuals over an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in April that killed 26 people. The militant groups named in the charge sheet are Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and The Resistance Front (TRF), accused of "planning, facilitating and executing" the attack. The NIA said its investigation traced the origins of the conspiracy to Pakistan, although Pakistan has rejected the allegations.

Responsibility for the attack remains unclear.[8] A relatively new militant group, the Resistance Front (TRF), initially claimed responsibility on social media but reportedly retracted that claim, according to local media.[8] Following the massacre, authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir identified three suspects linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, two of whom were reportedly Pakistani nationals, as tensions between India and Pakistan escalated.[8]

Indian intelligence agencies traced the operation to handlers in Muridke and Bahawalpur, Pakistan, indicating direct cross-border orchestration. Indian investigations have established that two senior Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders, Hafiz Saeed and deputy Saifullah Khalid Kasuri, masterminded the attacks with Hashim Moosa of The Resistance Front, who was later killed in a counterterrorism operation. The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, immediately claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack but later retracted its claim and blamed Indian agencies.

Following the attack on Tuesday, India blamed Pakistan for the incident that killed 26 people, a claim that Pakistan has rejected.[15] Protesters repeated the Indian government's accusations that Pakistan was responsible for the Pahalgam attack, while Islamabad strongly refuted these allegations.[15] The live coverage noted that the competing narratives were contributing to rising tensions, with cross‑border firing reported for a third day.[15]

India has implied it believes Pakistan may have indirectly supported the Pahalgam attack – a claim Pakistan strongly denies.[12] Pakistan officials have rejected suggestions of state involvement, framing the incident instead as part of a broader Kashmiri resistance, while New Delhi has used the attack to justify a tougher stance on Pakistan.[12] The guide stresses that, despite the political rhetoric, publicly available evidence proving direct Pakistani government responsibility remains contested.[12]

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), for the first time, officially identified The Resistance Front (TRF) in a sanctions monitoring report as responsible for the terror attack in Pahalgam. The report explicitly cited TRF’s claim of responsibility for the attack that left 26 people dead. According to the Monitoring Team report, five terrorists launched the attack in Pahalgam on April 22, and TRF claimed responsibility and published a photograph of the attack site the same day.

A statement attributed to The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the assault in Pahalgam that killed at least 26 tourists. Indian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they suspected four attackers were involved, with two from Pakistan and two from Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan’s government rejected Indian accusations that it was behind the attack, calling them "baseless" and denying state involvement.

This incident has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of having connections to the assailants – a claim the Pakistani government vehemently denies.[13] The article notes that the political fallout from the Pahalgam killings includes India’s suspension of key elements of cooperation, while Pakistan insists it has no role in the attack and accuses India of failing to provide credible evidence.[13]

Pakistan has denied any involvement in its first official response to the Pahalgam terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 people dead.[1] In comments carried by Pakistani media, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif called the incident "home‑grown" and alleged that India was fuelling unrest within its own borders, saying, "Pakistan has no connection with this" and describing various "revolutions" in Indian states from Nagaland to Kashmir.[1][14] He rejected Indian allegations of Pakistani responsibility and framed the violence as internal to India.[14]

Pakistan has no connection with the terror attack on tourists near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday as he blamed India for sponsoring unrest within the neighbouring country. "Pakistan has no connection with this. This is all home-grown... There is absolutely no connection to us [in this incident]. We don't support terrorism anywhere under any circumstances and innocent people should not be the target anywhere in any local conflicts," he said. Though there has been no official comment from the Indian side so far blaming Pakistan-based terrorists for the attack, Asif sought to distance Islamabad from the incident while speaking to Live 92 news channel.

NEW DELHI: The April 22 terrorist attack in J&K’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians, was a closely guarded conspiracy hatched by Pakistan spy agency ISI and terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) on the directions of the country’s political and military brass, and executed exclusively by Pakistani terrorists, according to sources in the security establishment. The Pahalgam attack squad was led by Sulaiman, a suspected former Pakistani special forces commando, who allegedly trained at the LeT Muridke hub in Pakistan’s Punjab province before crossing the Line of Control in 2022.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday denied any Pakistani involvement in the deadly attack on tourists near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, saying, "Pakistan has no connection with this" and asserting that the unrest was "home‑grown" inside India.[14] He instead accused India of fuelling unrest within its own borders, and characterised multiple insurgencies from Nagaland to Kashmir as "revolutions" against the Indian government.[14] The report contrasts his statement with Indian officials’ suggestions of Pakistani links to the attackers.[14]

Responsibility for the attack was allegedly claimed by the hitherto unknown The Resistance Front (TRF). India has implied cross-border linkages of the attackers, while Pakistan strongly denied any involvement. Continuing with its role as a responsible country, Pakistan is open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, reiterating that Pakistan had no role in the incident.

According to a chargesheet expected to be filed in the NIA court, Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri may be named as the main conspirators of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.[1] Sources said the investigation points to the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba leadership sitting in Pakistan in planning and directing the attack on tourists in Pahalgam.[1]

Pahalgam Terror Attack Truth: Pakistani army ex-soldier Adil Raja revealed that the Pahalgam attack took place on the orders of Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir.[6] He claimed, citing intelligence sources, that General Asim Munir deliberately ordered the attack so that the cases running against him could be suppressed.[6] Raja wrote on social media that the #PahalgamTerrorAttack was an individual act carried out by "the fascist Asim Munir and his accomplices within the military" and that "the military-occupied Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the actions of a single rogue element".[6]

A group called The Resistance Front (TRF) initially claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack but later retracted the claim. The Indian government linked the attack to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant organisation designated as a terrorist group by several countries, including India and the United States. Indian officials have described the incident as an act of cross-border terrorism involving Pakistan-based militant networks, although Pakistan has denied any role.

India and Pakistan must manage escalation after the Pahalgam attack. According to initial reports, the Pahalgam terror attack was carried out by the relatively unknown Kashmir Resistance Front, which India maintains is a proxy for the better-known Pakistan-backed terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. While it is unclear which group was responsible, the fact that it was a Pakistan-based group—with extensive support from Pakistan military—is undisputed, the analysis asserts, reflecting a view that Pakistan-based militant infrastructure underpins such attacks even if direct state responsibility is contested.

A report by security agencies states that the conspiracy for the Pahalgam attack was completely hatched in Pakistan and that Pakistan’s government agencies were directly involved.[7] The report says the three terrorists involved—Suleiman Shah alias Faizal Jatt, Abu Hamza alias Afghan, and Yasir alias Gibran—were residents of Pakistan and A++ and A category commanders of Lashkar-e-Taiba.[7] It further notes that Sajid Saifullah Jatt, Lahore-based operational chief of Lashkar, was the mastermind of the entire attack.[7]

According to notices issued by Anantnag police, the suspects in the Pahalgam attack include Hashim Musa alias Suleman, a citizen of Pakistan, and Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai, also a citizen of Pakistan, as well as Abdul Hussain Thokar, a resident of Anantnag. All three are believed to be members of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. A defence expert interviewed in the report argued that the scale and precision of the attack highlighted the role played by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence in equipping, training and arming the jihadi fighters involved.

Pakistan's top diplomat said Islamabad is open to a neutral probe into the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack, prompting India to downgrade its diplomatic ties with Pakistan on all fronts. Another diplomat, Saeed Sheikh, Pakistani Ambassador to the US, said that India has not yet presented any kind of evidence to Pakistan or the international community to prove Islamabad’s involvement in the Pahalgam incident.

An intelligence report suggests that Pakistan’s political and military bosses ordered the Pahalgam attack.[3] According to this report, the Pahalgam attack—where 26 tourists were killed—was carried out on the instructions of Pakistan’s political leadership and senior military officials.[3] It states that the leadership of the attack on the ground was by terrorist Suleiman, but the decision and planning came from Pakistan.[3]

Security agency sources said that banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked group The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack.[8] NIA sources highlighted that Hashim Musa’s role was most important in the attack and that digital traces showed links to Pakistan-based handlers.[8]

On Tuesday, suspected militants killed at least 26 people in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, the deadliest assault there in 25 years. A statement attributed to The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the attack; TRF is believed to be linked to the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Indian officials accused a Pakistan-based organisation of orchestrating the violence, an allegation Islamabad refuted, insisting it had no role in planning or ordering the attack.

Immediately after the mass casualty attack against civilians in Kashmir, the terrorist group known as The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility on Telegram. Later, TRF issued a denial, stating it had no involvement in the Pahalgam incident and accusing Indian agencies of attempting to malign the resistance. The author, a political-science professor specialising in terrorism, writes that his research "leaves little doubt" that the attack was indeed carried out by TRF, despite its denial.

Intelligence sources have attributed the devastating terror attack at a popular tourist destination near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, to Pakistan's escalating strategic maneuvers that involved remote coordination of the attack from safehouses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, infiltration of terrorists that were well-equipped, with automatic weapons and sophisticated communication devices. India has been actively engaging with foreign governments, presenting a case backed by technical intelligence, verified eyewitness accounts, and intelligence agency findings to establish the Pakistani link to the Pahalgam terror attack. This connection begins with The Resistance Front (TRF), which has claimed responsibility for the attack, and Saifullah Sajid Jutt, a senior LeT commander, is identified as the mastermind behind the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a branch of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, took responsibility for the Pahalgam attack.[5] Indian agencies have described TRF as a proxy outfit of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and have banned the group as a terrorist organization.[5]

Within hours of the Pahalgam killings, Indian officials pointed the finger at Pakistan, invoking the name of The Resistance Front (TRF) and framing the attack as cross-border state-sponsored terrorism. The claims made by Indian officials are based on untraceable phone messages and anonymous sources, which the article argues do not meet evidentiary standards, and they are rejected by TRF itself, which has denied responsibility for the attack. The author notes that no independent international intelligence agency has demonstrated a direct link between Pakistan’s state machinery and the Pahalgam killings and that India has yet to present solid proof of Pakistani state involvement.

Pakistan has a history of supporting terrorist groups, and its denial of any involvement in the Pahalgam terrorist attack is met with scepticism in India.[7] The brief notes that Indian officials portray the attack as part of a broader pattern of Pakistan‑backed militancy in Kashmir, while Pakistan maintains it provides only diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiri separatists and rejects any operational role.[7] This context is used to explain why the Pahalgam incident became a turning point in India’s approach to cross‑border terrorism.[7]

In an official briefing on Operation Mahadev, Home Minister Amit Shah said that "the whole world, wherever our MPs went, has accepted that the Pahalgam terrorist attack was carried out by Pakistan." The statement reflects the Indian government's position that Pakistan was responsible for the attack, and claims broad international acceptance of this view, though it does not provide underlying evidence in the press release itself. The release frames the Pahalgam incident as part of a broader pattern of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

Former Pakistani military officer Adil Raja claimed that ISI’s special operations DG General Shehab Aslam was the Pakistani officer behind the Pahalgam terrorist attack.[2] Raja stated that Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir had tasked ISI officer Shehab Aslam to make the Pahalgam attack happen and that Aslam was "fully responsible" for the bloodshed of innocents in Pahalgam.[2]

One of the main attackers in the Pahalgam incident, a Pakistani national named Hashim Musa, also known as Suleiman, had been active in Jammu and Kashmir for the past year and was likely involved in at least three earlier attacks, according to officials cited in Indian media. The Jammu and Kashmir Police identified four terrorists in connection with the attack, including two Pakistanis and two local residents. Officials said the Pakistan-based Lashkar proxy group, The Resistance Front, had claimed responsibility for the attack on tourists at Baisaran meadow.

While firmly rejecting the false Indian narrative and baseless allegations, Pakistan has stated that as a responsible country, it "is open to participating in any neutral, transparent, and credible investigation" into the Pahalgam incident. The issue brief argues that India has not accepted this offer because "it has no proof of Pakistan’s involvement" and characterises the Pahalgam attack as "another false flag operation" designed to malign Pakistan. It presents Pakistan's official position that the government was not responsible for the attack and that Indian claims of state sponsorship are unfounded.

A news explainer on the Pahalgam attack states that the terrorist organization called TRF, The Resistance Front, took responsibility for this cowardly attack.[10] It notes that although TRF’s name sounds like an English organization, in reality its roots are connected to the neighboring country Pakistan and it is associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba.[10]

A detailed television investigation reports that Lashkar-e-Taiba’s top commander Habibullah alias Sajid Jatt ordered the Pahalgam terrorist attack over a mobile phone.[11] The program states that IP tracking in the NIA chargesheet showed responsibility being claimed on a platform by Lashkar-e-Taiba and that the command structure for the attack was based in Pakistan.[11]

A current affairs explainer notes that the group behind the Pahalgam terrorist attack was The Resistance Front (TRF), which India banned as a terrorist group from 2 January 2023.[12] It explains that TRF is a group of Lashkar-e-Taiba, effectively functioning as its front and based out of Pakistan.[12]

A broadcast titled "Pahalgam Attack: किसने लिखी स्क्रिप्ट" says that NIA has obtained crucial evidence revealing that the conspiracy of the Pahalgam attack was scripted by Pakistan’s ISI.[13] The anchor asserts that intercepted communications and financial trails indicate ISI’s role in planning and directing the attack from Pakistan.[13]