Deadliest Kashmir Attack in Years Fans the Flames
The mood at the India-Pakistan border hasn’t been this raw in years. On April 22, 2025, armed militants stormed Baisaran Valley in Kashmir, gunning down 25 Indian tourists, a Christian traveler, and a local Muslim, wounding more than 20. The Kashmir Resistance Front (TRF) – a group with direct ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba – quickly claimed responsibility.
India's response was immediate and severe. Officials pointed fingers at Islamabad, insisting Pakistan shelters and arms the attackers. Security forces nabbed two Pakistanis alleged to be connected to the massacre. Pakistan's reaction? They fired back with accusations of an Indian 'false flag' and dismissed all responsibility, turning the tragedy into another flashpoint in their long and bitter rivalry.
Measures on Water, Borders, and Missiles: Retaliation Ramps Up
This wasn’t a business-as-usual diplomatic standoff. India yanked the plug on the Indus Waters Treaty, the decades-old water-sharing arrangement vital for millions. Visa-free travel for Pakistanis was axed and the Attari road crossing, one of the main arteries between the two countries, was slammed shut. On the military front, India tested long-range missiles, flexing muscles for all to see.
Pushed to the edge, Pakistan banned Indian aircraft from its skies and froze a special visa regime for Indian visitors. Leaders on both sides weren't shy about threats—any change to river flows, Islamabad warned, could spark open conflict. Soldiers and artillery started clashing daily at the Line of Control (LoC). Pakistan claims 33 civilians have been killed or wounded since April 24 in a mounting cycle of violence.
But the water war went from threat to reality. Satellite images caught India quietly releasing a surge of water from the Uri Dam into the Jhelum River. In just hours, floodwaters hit Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, swamping homes and farms. Meanwhile, the Baglihar Dam gates on the Chenab were slammed shut, drastically lowering water levels for communities in Pakistani Punjab near Sialkot. These moves turned the river lifelines themselves into weapons.
Pakistan started repositioning troops and missile systems, bracing for what many fear could be a larger showdown. Indian security forces in Kashmir ramped up crackdowns: over 1,500 arrests and houses bulldozed as suspected militant hideouts. The border has become a daily spectacle of gunfire, with nervous villagers on both sides caught in the crossfire.
The international community hasn’t been idle but looks mostly powerless. The U.S. and China are calling for restraint. China wants an independent investigation into the massacre that set it all off. Yet both nations’ leaders—Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif—continue to hurl warnings and threats more than olive branches.
Tensions now hinge not only on historic animosity but on control of vital water supplies and the ever-present risk of armed conflict between two nuclear states. For millions along the border and the rivers, it’s become alarmingly personal: not just about flags and politics, but safety, crops, and the water they need every day.
