India: One police officer killed in Shopian (Kashmir) Sep. 30

Event

On Sunday September 30, gunmen attacked a police station in Shopian (Jammu and Kashmir), killing a police officer and wounding several others. A heightened security presence is anticipated in Shopian in the coming days. Further attacks are possible in Kashmir in the near-term.

Context

Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority state in Hindu-majority India. After independence from colonial rule (August 1947), India and Pakistan fought a war over the region of Kashmir. An insurgency started in the Indian Kashmir Valley in the late 1980s.

Advice

As a reminder, some Western governments advise their citizens against travel to parts of Kashmir, notably areas along the Line of Control (LoC), due to the significant risk of violence.