Compilation of Pakistani Terrorist Attacks in India: 1989-2025 - Part II

Team NatStrat

This second part chronicles the period between 2008 and 2025, up to the Pahalgam massacre.

2008 Jaipur Blasts 

Terrorist attack that took place on 13 May, 2008 in Pink city Jaipur. Series of nine bomb blasts in a span of 15 minutes in which around 80 people were killed and more than 170 were injured.

Pakistan’s Involvement:

● Planning and Direction: Active role of IM’s Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar.

● ISI Involvement: The ISI created the IM to spread terror in India.

● Arrests and Trials in India: The ATS arrested the accused in connection with the live bomb recovery case on December 25, 2019, while they were already in jail for their involvement in the serial blasts. The ATS filed a supplementary charge sheet in the case, adding three new witnesses. The court has sentenced four terrorists—Saifurrahman, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, and Shahbaz Ahmed—to rigorous life imprisonment.

2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks

Pakistan's Involvement:

● Terrorist Origin and Training:The ten attackers were Pakistani nationals who had undergone extensive training in LeT camps in Pakistan. Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker captured alive, confessed that the group was controlled from Pakistan.

● Planning and Direction: The attacks were planned and directed by LeT militants based in Pakistan. They were guided remotely during the attacks via mobile phones and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

● Confirmation by Pakistan: Initially, Pakistan denied responsibility but later confirmed that the sole surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was a Pakistani citizen. In July 2009, Pakistani authorities admitted that LeT plotted and financed the attacks from their camps in Karachi and Thatta.

● Involvement of Pakistani Nationals: Investigations by Mumbai police identified 37 suspects, most of whom were Pakistani nationals, including two alleged Pakistan Army officers.

● Role of David Headley: David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American, conducted reconnaissance of the target sites in Mumbai before the attacks on behalf of LeT. He had been in contact with LeT operatives in Pakistan and provided them with crucial information. Headley confessed in a US court to his involvement and is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence in the United States.

● Testimony of David Headley implicating Tahawwur Rana:Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian and a childhood friend of Headley, was recently extradited to India for his alleged involvement. Headley testified that Rana facilitated a cover for his surveillance activities in Mumbai. Rana had helped Headley open an office in Mumbai, which was used for reconnaissance.

● ISI Involvement: There have been allegations of involvement by rogue elements within Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in supporting LeT for the attacks. Headley mentioned meeting ISI officers who assisted in the planning and funding of his reconnaissance.

● Arrests and Trials in Pakistan: Pakistan claimed to have arrested several individuals in connection with the attacks, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior LeT leader alleged to be a mastermind. However, India has often criticized Pakistan for the lack of progress in the trials and the release of some of the accused on bail.

2016 Uri Attack

In the Uri attack, 19 Indian soldiers were killed when militants stormed an army base. Nine days later, Indian forces conducted a cross-LoC surgical strike targeting terror launchpads. Reports at the time claimed that over 100 militants were neutralized.

Pakistan’s Involvement:

● Terrorist Origin and Training: The two terrorists had been recruited initially by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) for helping its terrorists infiltrate. They later helped other terror groups as well.

● Involvement of Pakistani Nationals: Captured terrorists hailing from Pakistan or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir have confessed to their training and arming in Pakistan or territory under the control of Pakistan.

● Testimony: With both being residents of PoK, Army authorities interrogated them on whether they had any knowledge about the Uri attack in which 18 soldiers were killed. The duo initially claimed that they had inadvertently crossed into India but after sustained interrogation informed security agencies about the two guides who had helped the terrorists infiltrate. They also helped security agencies identify one of the terrorists involved in the attack, sources said. One of the killed terrorists was identified by the NIA as Hafiz Ahmed of Darbang in Muzaffarabad Tehsil of PoK. 

● Pakistani Involvement: During these terrorist attacks and infiltration attempts Global Positioning Systems and stores with Pakistani markings were recovered. “The role of Pakistan has been established beyond doubt, the four terrorists who carried out the attack were killed in the encounter”, according to aseniorNIA official. There is a lack of clarity as one Indian agency suspected LeT terrorists while the Indian Army believed it to be JeM. But then Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) chief Hafiz Saeed organised funeral prayers in absentia for one of the Uri attackers so LeT became the prime suspect.

● Arrests and Trials in India: The NIA took into custody two men from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) arrested by the Army in connection with its probe into the Uri terror attack:identified as Ahasan Kursheed alias DC, a resident of Khaliana Kalan, and Faisal Hussain Awan, a resident of Pottha Jahangir, both in PoK.

2016 Nagrota Attack

Nagrota that on 29 November 2016, some heavily armed unknown terrorists, on the directions of their foreign handlers, had entered into the Army Camp at Nagrota, near the Baleeni Bridge and started indiscriminate firing upon the army personnel with the intention to kill them. The actions of the terrorists constitute scheduled offences under sections 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.

The 2016 Nagrota Army base attack, which occurred on November 29, 2016, involved three heavily armed militants who attacked the Indian Army’s 166 Field Regiment unit in Nagrota, near Jammu. Disguised in Indian police uniforms, the militants infiltrated the base, leading to a fierce gun battle and a hostage situation. Seven Indian soldiers, including two officers, and all three militants were killed in the attack.

Pakistani Involvement and Investigation: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India, after a nearly two-year investigation, concluded that the terror attack was orchestrated by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation. The final chargesheet named Abdul Rauf Azhar, the deputy chief of JeM and brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, as the mastermind behind the attack.

Evidence of Pakistani Links: The investigation revealed that the three Pakistani terrorists involved were facilitated by four local Kashmiri JeM members who transported them from the International Border to Nagrota. Evidence collected included details of how the terrorists entered India, arranged finances, and received local assistance. The NIA also highlighted the recovery of phones, a list of items, and ammunition indicating their origin across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan.

Arrests and Charge Sheets: In connection with the attack, the NIA arrested several individuals who provided logistical support to the terrorists. By November 2018, the NIA had filed a charge sheet against fourteen individuals, including Abdul Rouf Asgar and the local facilitators.

2019 Pulwama Attack

The aftermath of the Pulwama suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, February 2019. | Times of India.

The 2019 Pulwama attack, which occurred on February 14, 2019, was a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy of India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel and the perpetrator.

● Pakistani Involvement:

-   JeM Claim of Responsibility: The Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack immediately after it occurred. They also released a video of the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, a local Kashmiri youth who had joined the group a year prior.

-   Perpetrator’s Background: Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber, was a resident of the Pulwama district. He joined the JeM in 2018. His family reported that his anger against the Indian state grew after he was injured during a protest in 2016.

● Evidence Pointing to Pakistan:

-   The involvement of JeM, a known Pakistan-based terrorist organization, directly linked Pakistan to the attack. Security analysts widely believe that JeM is a creation of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

-   The mastermind behind the attack was identified as Mohammad Ismal Alvi, also known as Saifullah, Adnan, or Lamboo, a commander of JeM.

-   The explosives used in the attack were determined through forensic investigation to be ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerin, and RDX.

-   Investigations revealed that a key operative of JeM, Shakir Bashir Magrey, provided shelter and logistical assistance to the suicide bomber and other Pakistani terrorists involved in the planning and execution of the attack. He confessed to collecting and delivering arms, ammunition, cash, and explosive materials.

-   Magrey also admitted to harboring the suicide bomber and a Pakistani terrorist named Mohammad Umar Farooq in his house and assisting in modifying the vehicle and fitting the improvised explosive device (IED).

2025 Pahalgam Attack

Representative image. | opindia.com.

Following the attack on April 22, 2025, in which 26 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, were killed near Pahalgam, The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), initially claimed responsibilitybut denied it soon thereafter. Sources believe a former soldier of the Pakistan Army was tasked by the Army’s Special Service Group (SSG) to join the LeT and strengthen the terror organisation’s Kashmir operations. This attack led India to launch Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, 2025, following which India and Pakistan conducted retaliatory attacks on each other. A ceasefire was reached on May 10, 2025.

End of Part II of the two-part chronology.

(Exclusive to NatStrat)