On April 22, 2025, a surreptitious and shocking terror attack on unsuspecting tourists rattled the world—and a disbelieving India. The relative peace that the Kashmir Valley had enjoyed was abruptly shattered as 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were gunned down in cold blood by blind, fanatical extremists. The heinous killings carried a sharp religious overtone, as the attackers specifically confirmed the victims’ religious identity before opening fire.

Indian politicians, as usual, were busy issuing asinine statements—including a Chief Minister who attributed the attack to security lapses and a failure of central intelligence. But was it truly an intelligence failure?

Intelligence is a cloak-and-dagger affair: it exists to protect national borders, counter internal threats, reduce infrastructure vulnerabilities, and strengthen emergency responses. Threats involving unknown perpetrators, methods, and targets cannot be countered with conventional strategies designed for predictable adversaries. Fanatical religious terrorism, as seen in Kashmir, is multi-dimensional—its methods of attack are unpredictable, and potential targets are numerous, diverse, and constantly shifting. In an arena where multiple forces are at play—such as the Army, BSF, CRPF, and J&K Police—alongside a host of intelligence agencies, lapses in intelligence gathering and sharing are, unfortunately, almost inevitable.

This time in Pahalgam, the tourists were lured into venturing into a remote location—one conspicuously lacking a security presence. Based on the facts and circumstances available in the public domain, it appears the terrorists had been lying in wait for this unfortunate group. The strike was swift and lethal, driven by religious fundamentalism and selectively targeted the men, after visually inspecting them for signs of circumcision.

After committing the heinous killings, the cowardly terrorists fled into the forest to evade confrontation with security forces. It is nearly impossible for any intelligence agency to obtain credible information about a fleeting attack carried out by a small band of extremists. Even major terror operations—such as the one on 7 October 2023, when Hamas and other Palestinian militants launched an unprecedented attack from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza Envelope of southern Israel—can escape the notice of even the most reputed intelligence agencies, including Mossad.

That attack began with a barrage of approximately 4,300 rockets, alongside militants using vehicles and motorised........

© News18