A group of terrorists killed 26 people and injured several others in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday. Several American media outlets covered the attack, publishing stories about the situation in India’s union territory. The attack was carried out amid US Vice President JD Vance’s four-day visit to India, during which he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This is not the first time a US official’s India trip has been marred by a terrorist incident. In 2000, when former President Bill Clinton was in India, a group of terrorists rounded up Sikh men in Anantnag district’s Chittisinghpura area and killed 35 people.
Since April 22, The New York Times has published seven stories about the Kashmir massacre, the latest one titled: ‘After Militant Attack in Kashmir, Pakistan Braces for Strike by India’. CNN has published two stories.
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Outlets like The Washington Post included eyewitness accounts. “They were families, tourists, and children. What did they do to deserve this?” one survivor told The Post.
Here’s how big American media outlets covered the Pahalgam attack.
CNN
The latest headline by CNN read: ‘A tourist massacre in Kashmir is escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Here’s what we know’, and ‘Dozens killed as gunmen massacre tourists in Kashmir beauty spot’.
Under a subheading about why Kashmir is ‘important to India and Pakistan’, CNN wrote that the tension between India and Pakistan flared up after the BJP-led government revoked Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
New York Times
In a story titled ‘After Militant Attack in Kashmir, Pakistan Braces for Strike by India’, the New York Times described Tuesday’s incident as part of a ‘long-standing insurgency’ in Kashmir.
In another story, NYT quoted a security official saying that Pakistan ‘would approach any tit-for-tat escalation carefully but would thwart incursions by India if they occurred’.
The Times’ ‘A Perfect Day in a Gentle Meadow Is Shattered by Bloody Carnage’ story goes through witness accounts. Photojournalist Showkat Nanda captured pictures from the scene.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee, meanwhile, slammed The New York Times for using the term ‘militants’ to describe the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack.
Fox News
Fox News published two articles on the Pahalgam attack. The first one covered President Trump’s reaction, with the title: ‘Trump extends ‘deepest sympathies’ after gunmen kill 20 in India’s Kashmir region’. The second one is about New Delhi suspending the Indus Water Treaty (India downgrades ties with Pakistan after attack on Kashmir tourists).
Washington Post
The Washington Post has covered the Pahalgam terrorist attack in over four stories, the latest being ‘India and Pakistan cancel visas for each others’ nationals as tensions rise after Kashmir attack’. The article further notes a ‘show of public outrage’ in Kashmir.
“Markets, private schools and businesses were shut Wednesday amid an uneasy calm as people worried that the attacks could drive away tourists and hurt the region’s economy,” the publication adds.
In another story, titled ‘Deadly Kashmir attack threatens new escalation between India and Pakistan’, WaPo notes that the United States will play a ‘critical’ role in what happens next.
