Long queues and anxious faces can be seen outside a petrol pump in Srinagar, a town in India-administered Kashmir. Amid escalating conflict between India and Pakistan, fear and uncertainty loom large. ‘We do not know what is going to happen,’ says resident Furkan Mir. ‘I am constantly watching social media to get the updates, but it is giving me more anxiety.’ Just a few days later a sudden peace deal brought an abrupt halt to the violence, but fears continue to linger amid an uneasy truce.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours broke out after a militant attack on 22 April in Pahalgam city killed 25 tourists and a local guide – most of them Hindus. Although no groups have claimed responsibility, the Indian government accused Pakistan of having ‘linkages’ to the violence. In response, India launched a large-scale military offensive in the early hours of 7 May, after demolishing several homes of suspected militants and ordering all Pakistani diplomats and nationals to be deported.
