Entering into this week, the world was already greatly unsettled by tensions in multiple regions, including the war in Ukraine, conflicts in Gaza, Syria, and Yemen, the growing potential for military strikes on Iran, China's threats to take Taiwan by force, and North Korea's regular threats against South Korea, Japan, and the US.
Then on Tuesday, new troubles flared between India and Pakistan following a terrorist attack on a group of tourists in the Indian-administered area of Jammu and Kashmir. In this incident, five heavily armed jihadists approached a large group of sightseeing tourists located in a popular meadow in the Baisaran Valley, near the town of Pahalgam. The militants began asking the names and religions of the members of the tourist group, with some being asked to recite verses from the Koran so that the militants could segregate them by religion. Men were then forced to remove their trousers to check for a lack of circumcision before being shot at close range.
At least 26 were killed and another 20 injured in the attack. Witnesses say most of the victims were male. 23 of the 26 killed were Indian nationals, including three Indian Government officials, recently married officers from the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy, and an official from India's Intelligence Bureau.
Accounts from survivors indicated that the attackers spared a woman, telling her the reason was so that she could "narrate the horrors" to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by a group known as The Resistance Front. Most intelligence services believe this is simply a re-branding of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organization with close ties to Al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Needless to say, the nation of India is enraged. This is one of the worst attacks in recent times in Kashmir, a region split between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed a strong response:
"We will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done."
India has announced a number of punitive measures against Pakistan, including revoking visas issued to Pakistani nationals, expelling military advisers, closing the primary land border crossing at Attari Wagah, and perhaps most impactfully, suspending a crucial water-sharing treaty known as the Indus Waters Treaty.
In a greatly simplified explanation, the treaty guides the distribution and use of water from the Indus River and its tributaries. Three rivers for India. Three rivers for Pakistan. But the headwaters of all six rivers are in India. And herein is the major concern for Pakistan. Being downstream of all the rivers, India could potentially create floods or droughts in Pakistan, especially in times of warlike situations.
Late this week, Pakistan warned that any attempt by India to block its share of water under the Treaty would be treated as an act of war.
US EMBASSY SECURITY ALERT
The US Embassy in India issued a security alert this week reminding US citizens of the Level 4: DO NOT TRAVEL advisory for the Jammu and Kashmir region that has been in effect for some time.
As of the time of this report's preparation on Friday evening, Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines, there is significant jamming of GPS and Glonass signals along the border, and both sides have exchanged small arms fire at multiple locations along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the national and international threat environment and will immediately notify service subscribers of any new alerts, warnings, or advisories impacting the overall threat picture for American citizens, as events warrant. |
