New Delhi: The attack on tourists in J&K’s Reasi on Sunday is one of the biggest terrorist attacks on outsiders this year and marks a shift in terrorist activities in the Jammu region, said counterinsurgency experts, adding that so far terrorists were targeting security forces in the region. According to the Union home ministry data, the number of civilians killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the first five months of this year was eight till May 31, this year.

The suspected attack on the tourist bus is also a grim reminder of an attack on tourists on July 10, 2017, when a bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims from Gujarat came under terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the driver of the bus, Sheikh Saleem Gafoor, saved the lives of 52 passengers despite terrorists raining bullets on the bus. Seven pilgrims were killed and 19 wounded in that attack.

Over the past four years, the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in J&K have witnessed a sudden spurt in terrorist activities, starting with the recovery of sticky bombs in February 2021 in Samba followed by drone attack on Indian Air Force’s Jammu base in June that year. These activities were followed by the infiltration of terrorists using the Pir Panjal Valley and subsequent counter-terror operations by security forces to flush out terrorists. In December 2023, the terrorists killed four army personnel and reportedly mutilated the bodies of at least two soldiers and took away weapons of some of them. The counteraction by security forces, however, led to the death of three civilians and injuries to others.