(MENAFN) India’s Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Tuesday that security forces had killed three militants involved in the deadly April attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. The men, identified as Suleman, Jibran, and Afghan, were confirmed by witnesses and linked to the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Shah informed the lower house of parliament that the trio were among those responsible for the murders in Baisaran Valley. He also stated that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had previously arrested individuals who provided shelter to the terrorists. The victims' identities were confirmed upon viewing the militants’ bodies in Srinagar.

According to Shah, forensic tests conducted in Chandigarh confirmed that the weapons recovered from the suspects—an M9 carbine and two AK-47 rifles—were used in the April killings. He noted that India’s Intelligence Bureau and military had tracked the group using surveillance of a Chinese-encrypted communication system, eventually pinpointing their location on July 22. The militants were eliminated in an operation the following day.

Authorities also recovered Pakistani voter ID cards and candy manufactured in Pakistan from the deceased, further linking them to cross-border connections.

Initially, The Resistance Front, a group believed to be affiliated with LeT, claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 26 people, but later retracted the claim. Pakistan has officially denied involvement in the incident.

India retaliated on May 7 by targeting suspected militant sites in Pakistan-controlled territory, triggering a brief exchange of fire with Pakistani forces. The skirmish ended after three days with a ceasefire.

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