A batch of 3,289 Amarnath yatris left in a convoy of 105 vehicles from the Yatri Niwas base of the cave shrine in Jammu at 3.15 am on Tuesday, after a terror attack on the pilgrims on Monday killed seven pilgrims.
The convoy of pilgrims continued their journey towards the shrine amid tight security arrangements. At least seven pilgrims were killed and more than 15 were injured after terrorists attacked a bus in the Batengoo area of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Monday.
IG Kashmir Muneer Khan has said that the attack on the Amarnath yatra pilgrims carried out by LeT, masterminded by Pak terrorist Ismail
Terrorists also attacked a police party in the district, injuring three policemen. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Muneer Khan said the attack was aimed at the security forces and not the pilgrims.The terrorists opened fire on the forces at two places on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Batengoo.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that he will hold a high-level meeting at 11 am on Tuesday to discuss the incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack, saying India would not be "bogged down" by such "cowardly" acts.
President Pranab Mukherjee also tweeted his condolences on Tuesday morning.
Strongly condemn attack on Amarnath Yatris in J & K ; grieve the loss of innocent lives #PresidentMukherjee
— President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) July 11, 2017
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, in a joint statement, expressed grief over the killings, saying the incident "goes against the very grain of Kashmiri ethos".
Mobile data services have been suspended in Jammu in the wake of the terror attack. ANI reports state that only BSNL broadband services with limited speed are working in the region. Security in Anantnag has been tightened.
The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries declared a shutdown in Jammu on Tuesday following Monday night's attack. The Jammu bandh call was supported by the opposition National Conference, which called the attack part of a nefarious design to vitiate the secular fabric of Jammu and Kashmir.
RPF IG (operations) Zulfiqar Hasan said that the Amarnath yatra will continue. "(Attack) is being investigated by Jammu and Kashmir police... Yatra is going on, we will ensure that it goes on peacefully," ANI reported him as saying .
