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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
Six Western tourists were kidnapped by Al-Faran, a [[Kashmiri separatist movement|Kashmiri Islamist militant organisation]] from the Liddarwat area of [[Pahalgam]] in the [[Anantnag]] district of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] on 4 July 1995.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/09/world/fifth-tourist-kidnapped-in-kashmir.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink Fifth Tourist Kidnapped in Kashmir], ''[[The New York Times]]'', (9 July 1995)</ref>

==Background==
In 1989, Pakistan initiated an [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|armed insurgency]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/14/world/kashmiri-rebels-decapitate-captive-norwegian-tourist.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink Kashmiri Rebels Decapitate Captive Norwegian Tourist], ''[[The New York Times]]'', (14 August 1995)</ref>

==Kidnappings==

The six victims included two British tourists, Keith Mangan of [[Middlesbrough]] and Paul Wells of [[Blackburn]]; two [[United States|Americans]], John Childs of [[Simsbury, Connecticut]], and Donald Hutchings of [[Spokane, Washington]]; a German, Dirk Hasert; and a [[Norwegians|Norwegian]], Hans Christian Ostrø. Mangan's and Hutchings' wives were left behind by the kidnappers as their husbands were abducted.<ref>{{cite news|title=Middlesbrough hostage Keith Mangan abducted in Kashmir 20 years ago today|url=https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/middlesbrough-hostage-keith-mangan-abducted-9584023|publisher=Gazettelive.co.uk|date=4 July 2005|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='New age of terror' has Spokane link|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/dec/21/new-age-of-terror-has-spokane-link/#/0|publisher=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|date=21 December 2014|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref>

A note released by the kidnappers a day after the kidnappings read, "Accept our demands or face dire consequences. We are fighting against anti-Islamic forces. Western countries are anti-Islam, and America is the biggest enemy of Islam."<ref>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B1FF8395C0C728FDDAB0994D1494D81&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIndia Hijacking Revives Saga of Kashmir Kidnappings in '95], ''[[The New York Times]]'', (31 December 1999)</ref> John Childs managed to escape and was rescued four days later.<ref name=nyt>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/10/nyregion/american-tricks-captors-in-kashmir-and-bolts-to-freedom.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink American Tricks Captors in Kashmir and Bolts to Freedom], ''[[The New York Times]]'', (10 July 1995)</ref> Ostrø was beheaded by his abductors and his body was found near Pahalgam on 13 August 1995.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/14/world/kashmiri-rebels-decapitate-captive-norwegian-tourist.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink Kashmiri Rebels Decapitate Captive Norwegian Tourist], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 14 August 1995</ref> His body was taken to [[All India Institutes of Medical Sciences|AIIMS]], New Delhi, where a postmortem was conducted by Professor [[Tirath Das Dogra|T. D. Dogra]], who established the beheading as antemortem (cause of death) and reported that the words "Al Faran" were carved onto his chest.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/09/reviews/980809.09steint.html Kidnapped book review], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 9 August 1998</ref> The kidnappers demanded the release of [[Pakistani people|Pakistani]] militant [[Maulana Masood Azhar]] who had been imprisoned by India and 20 other prisoners. Several national and international organisations issued appeals to Al-Faran to release the tourists. Representatives of the embassies of the victims' countries also visited Kashmir frequently to seek their release, without success. In December 1995, the kidnappers left a note that they were no longer holding the men hostage.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/13/world/worry-rising-for-hostages-seized-in-india.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink Worry Rising For Hostages Seized in India], ''[[The New York Times]]'', (13 December 1995)</ref> Mangan,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/middlesbrough-hostage-keith-mangan-abducted-9584023|title=Middlesbrough hostage Keith Mangan abducted in Kashmir 20 years ago today|date=4 July 2015}}</ref> Wells, Hutchings, and Hasert have never been found and are presumed to have been killed.

In May 1996, a captured militant told Indian investigators and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents that he had heard that all four hostages had been shot dead on 13 December 1995, nine days after a operation by Indian security forces that killed four of the original hostage-takers, including the man said to have been leading them, Abdul Hamid Turki.<ref>{{cite web|title=Report: Spokane man killed in India : m.kitsapsun.com : Kitsap, Washington, News, Business, Homes, Jobs, Cars & Information |url=http://m.kitsapsun.com/news/1996/Dec/23/report-spokane-man-killed-in-india/ |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5iRrNHgfO?url=http://m.kitsapsun.com/news/1996/Dec/23/report-spokane-man-killed-in-india/ |archivedate=22 July 2009 |url-status=live |accessdate=13 July 2009 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/06/world/no-answers-for-wife-of-us-hostage-in-kashmir.html?pagewanted=1 | work=The New York Times | first=John F. | last=Burns | title=No Answers for Wife of U.S. Hostage in Kashmir | date=6 July 1997}}</ref> Journalists [[Adrian Levy]] and Catherine Scott-Clark claim however, in their book ''The Meadow'', that the remaining hostages were sold from Al-Faran to Ghulam Nabi Mir, also known as Azad Nabi, who held them for months before shooting them dead on 24 December 1995.<ref>{{cite news|title=IndoPak: New book claims India-backed group killed kidnapped Kashmir tourists|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2012-04-03/indopak-new-book-claims-india-backed-group-killed-kidnapped-kashmir-tourists|publisher=[[Public Radio International]]|date=3 April 2012|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref> Ghulam Nabi Mir was at the time leader of pro-Indian Islamic guerrilla group Muslim Mujaheddin, a fraction of [[Hizbul Mujahideen]], who organized themselves into the [[All Jammu & Kashmir Patriotic Peoples Front|Patriotic Peoples Front]] in 1995 or 1996 to contest local elections.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jammu & Kashmir - Political Parties|url=http://www.peacekashmir.org/jammu-kashmir/political-parties.htm|publisher=peacekashmir.org|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jolt to counter insurgency|url=http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01072001/13.htm|publisher=[[The Milli Gazette]]|date=1 July 2001|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Top counter-insurgent killed in J&K|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jun/16jk1.htm|work=[[Rediff.com]]|date=16 June 2001|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref>

The Indian authorities alleged that Al-Faran was a branch of [[Harkat-ul-Ansar]]; however the militant group denied having any such ties to Al-Faran.<ref name="Nabi">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2012/04/19/did-pro-india-militias-kill-western-tourists-in-kashmir/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421000509/http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2012/04/19/did-pro-india-militias-kill-western-tourists-in-kashmir/|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2012|title=Did pro-India militias kill Western tourists in Kashmir?|work=[[Reuters]]|date=18 April 2012|accessdate=16 May 2012}}</ref>

==Rescue attempt==

According to the US-based [[Terrorism Research Center]], Norwegian [[Forsvarets Spesialkommando]] (FSK) made an attempt to locate and rescue the Norwegian hostage Ostrø. "In 1995, a small force from the unit was deployed in the [[Kashmir]] region of [[India]] in an attempt to find and free a Norwegian citizen who was held hostage and later beheaded, by the Al-Faran guerrillas." The attempt was not successful. The [[Terrorism Research Center]] presented the information about FSK's missions in Kashmir without prejudice. The [[Norwegian Ministry of Defence]] has never admitted such an action taken place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=1588113|title=-Spesialkommandoen skulle befri Osterø}}</ref>

==Aftermath==

The kidnappings were widely covered by western press and helped bring terrorism in Kashmir to the international communities attention. Donald Hutchings' wife Jane Schelly made repeated trips to the region to try to get some answers in vain.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/06/world/no-answers-for-wife-of-us-hostage-in-kashmir.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink No Answers for Wife of U.S. Hostage in Kashmir], ''[[The New York Times]]'', (6 July 1997)</ref> In 1997, Indian police exhumed a body that was initially thought to be of British tourist Paul Wells.<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jan/06/news/mn-51354 Exhumed Body Is of British Hostage, India Confirms], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', (6 January 2000)</ref> However, subsequent forensic tests showed that the body did not belong to any of the tourists.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/692434.stm Tests dispute Kashmir body identity], [[BBC]], (27 March 2000)</ref> [[Masood Azhar]] was subsequently released in exchange for passengers aboard hijacked [[Indian Airlines Flight 814]] along with [[Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh]]. Sheikh was arrested in 2002 and was later tried and convicted for the kidnapping and beheading of [[Daniel Pearl]] in [[Karachi, Pakistan]].

[[Amjad Farooqi]], accused of being one of the kidnappers, was reported killed in Pakistan in September 2004.<ref>http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/paper1129</ref><ref>http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/655/html</ref>

==See also==

*[[Murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland]], [[Denmark|Danish]] and Norwegian tourists killed by Islamists in Morocco in 2018
*[[Beheading in Islamism|Beheading in Islam]]
*[[Islamic terrorism]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/auerbach-ransom.html Ransom, The Untold Story of International Kidnapping by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach- Chapter 1]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091019112049/http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/01aug09/edit.htm#3 In memory of Hans Christian Ostro], [[Daily Excelsior]], (9 August 2001)
*[http://www.subcontinent.com/research/sapra_documents/tr_1996_03_001_s.html Al Faran and the Hostage Crisis in Kashmir], SAPRA India Foundation, (10 March 1996)
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/578369.stm Profile: Maulana Masood Azhar], [[BBC]], (16 December 2002)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidnapping Of Western Tourists In Kashmir}}

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[[Category:Kashmir conflict]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in India]]
[[Category:1990s in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Hostage taking in India]]
[[Category:1995 crimes in India]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Rao administration]]
[[Category:Kidnappings by Islamists]]
[[Category:Kidnappings in India]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 1995]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 1995]]

1995 kidnapping of Western tourists in Kashmir - Revision history

MetaBOT at 15:45, 8 July 2023