India razes homes of suspected militants who shot tourists in Kashmir

Indian authorities in Kashmir have demolished the homes of at least 10 Kashmir residents suspected of involvement in last week's massacre of a group of tourists that left 26 people dead. More than 1,500 suspected accomplices have been detained for questioning. Sporadic gunfire continues along the India-Pakistan border.

The demolition of the suspected militants' homes began on Thursday (three days after the tourists were killed), with Indian security forces using explosives to ensure speed and visibility of the retaliation.

At the same time, Indian officials do not officially connect the blowing up of houses in various areas of the Kashmir Valley with the attack in Pahalgam, but there is information that the demolished houses belonged to the families of suspected militants operating in the region or who had fled to the Pakistani side.

At least one of the bombed homes has been directly linked by state authorities to a man named on the list of suspects in the attack.

Kashmir's top leadership has backed the Indian government's actions against the suspected militants themselves, but has questioned the legality of demolishing homes where their families may have lived.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the immediate perpetrators of the attack should be punished without any mercy, "but innocent people should not be harmed in the process."

His predecessor in the post, Mehbooba Mufti, also spoke out against the demolitions, calling on Indian authorities to "distinguish between terrorists and civilians."

For a week now, there have been ongoing exchanges of fire on the unrecognized border between the two countries, with military personnel stationed on both sides of the demarcation line periodically starting the exchanges.

There is ongoing debate about whether India will strike Pakistan, as it did after larger militant attacks in 2016 and 2019.

India said the militants who attacked the tourists were backed by Pakistani authorities, but did not name any specific group. Islamabad categorically denies the accusations.

India and Pakistan have been disputing the territory of Kashmir for more than 70 years, and have fought two full-scale wars over it. However, in terms of civilian casualties, the shooting of tourists on April 20 was the largest terrorist attack in the region in the last 20 years.

Last week, Indian authorities said they had carried out massive raids in the state following the Pahalgam attack, with security forces detaining more than 1,500 people for questioning.

Since then, the number of detainees has increased, but their total number is not specified.