New Delhi, 28 August

Terrorists chose the picturesque Baisaran meadow as the target for the dastardly attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam due to its high tourists presence and relative isolation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Thursday.

"Three terrorists" were directly involved in the brutal terror attack in which 26 people were killed in cold blood on 22 April, NIA officials said.

The target was also chosen considering the "response time" from the security agencies, said a spokesman for the NIA, which is probing the case.

The terrorists chose Baisaran as the target due to its "high tourist presence", "relative isolation" and after considering that the "response (from the security agencies) would take time", he said.

In the targeted attack, terrorists killed male tourists milling around eateries, taking pony rides or just picnicking with their families, including young children and parents, in the meadow near Pahalgam touted as 'Mini Switzerland' for its serene beauty.

The NIA in June arrested two men for harbouring the three Pakistan-based terrorists, who were killed by the armed forces late last month.

The arrested duo -- Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar from Batkote and Bashir Ahmad Jothar from Pahalgam -- disclosed the identities of the three assailants as Pakistani nationals affiliated to the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The two men provided food, shelter and logistical support to the terrorists, NIA officials had said.

The three LeT terrorists, who were killed in the 28 July encounter code-named Operation Mahadev on the outskirts of Srinagar, had been hiding in the Dachigam-Harwan forest belt since the attack, they said.

In response to the Pahalgam attack, the Indian armed forces on 7 May carried out precision strikes at terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under Operation Sindoor.

The operation targeted nine sites, including the headquarters and training centres of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from where terror attacks against India were planned and directed.