A Look at the blood-soaked history of Amarnath Yatra

Late evening on Monday which was an auspicious day for Hindus being the First Monday of Saawan Month when Lord Shiva is worshiped, a bus carrying seven pilgrims who were returning from Amarnath – Lord Shiva’s shrine in Kashmir wedged inside a narrow gorge nearly 50 km from Pahalgam, Kashmir -- was attacked by terrorists.

Of the seven killed, six were women. At least 19 people were injured in the attack.

As expected, political leaders condemned the incident and declared that India must "not get bogged down by such cowardly attacks". Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Arun Jaitley called it the the most "reprehensible act." J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said it was an "assault on our (Kashmir's) values and traditions".

But a lot of politicians also raised the finger on the security arrangement in the state. The attack happened despite drone-mounted cameras, jammers, police dogs, bullet-proof bunkers, and satellite tracking devices employed to look out for trouble. The 40-day yatra, which began on 28 June, saw thirty thousands of personnel from the army, BSF, CRPF and state police pressed into service to ensure the pilgrims' security. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the attack wasn't thwarted.

But this isn't the first time that pilgrims have been targeted by terrorists. Here is a complete History of all the terror attack that has been taken place on Amarnath Yatra until now.

1995 – Siege laid on Amarnath Yatra

In 1994, Pakistan-based militant outfit Harkat ul Ansar had threatened that they would not allow the pilgrimage to take place until Indian government removed military bunkers at the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. The year later, PV Narsimha Rao's government was left red-faced after 40 militants laid a siege on the shrine for 15 days. The militant outfit also claimed that the attack was in protest against the demolition of Babri Masjid. However, the yatra continued peacefully. In turn, locals in Kashmir protested against the outfit and there was widespread condemnation of their diktat.

1996 – Several Attacks, no casualities

Terrorist carried out several attack targeting Amarnath pilgrims but luckily there were no casualties.

2000- Amarnath pilgrimage massacre

In the early hours of 2 August 2000, terrorists opened fire on over 95 people, although official figures claimed the death toll to be 89. The series of attacks, which began on the night of 1 August, were believed to be planned.

The terrorists, said to have been opposed to the local terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen’s ceasefire declaration, not only attacked the pilgrim base camp at Pahalgam, but later also attacked five other places in the Valley, killing at least 58 people, according to a report. A total of 32 people were killed in the base camp strike at Pahalgam, of which 21 were Amarnath yatris.

2001: Six Pilgrims Lost Life

A militant hurled two grenades at a camp and later opened fire near the Amarnath shrine on the night of 20 July 2001, killing nearly 13 people, including three women yatris and two police officers. The attack took place around 1:25 am near Sheshnag, one of the highest stops on the way to the Amarnath cave, a police spokesman said. Of those killed, six were pilgrims, according to a news report.

2002: 8 Amarnath Yatris Dead, 30 Injured

The attacks on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims continued for the third straight year. On 30 July, two pilgrims were killed and three injured when militants hurled grenades at a taxi in Srinagar which was on its way to the Amarnath cave base camp, according to a news report. Just a week later, on 6 August, three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists opened fire inside the Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp, killing nine people and injuring 27. This attack took place despite the presence of an estimated 15,000 troops and police personnel deployed to protect the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, an article in Frontline said.

2006: Five left injured

According to a report, at least five people were injured when terrorists hurled a grenade at a bus carrying Amarnath Yatra pilgrims from a base camp to Srinagar on 21 June, 2006. The attack took place near Bihama-Ganderbal in central Kashmir and came only four days after Jammu and Kashmir police claimed to have busted a terror module.