Dlife at 01:20, 15 January 2026

2026-01-15T01:20:19Z

New page

{{Short description|1995 kidnapping in Kashmir}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = 1995 kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir
| location = [[Pahalgam|Liddarwat]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India
| date = {{start date|1995|07|4|df=yes}}
| type = [[Kidnapping]], [[hostage taking]]
| victims = 6
| perpetrators = [[Harkat-ul-Ansar]] ([[Al-Faran]])
| numparts = 40
| motive = Release of Harkat-ul-Ansar leaders and other militants
| website = {{URL|1=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199507040010|2=Incident Summary for GTDID: 199507040010}}
}}
Six western tourists and their two guides were kidnapped in the Liddarwat area of [[Pahalgam]] in the [[Anantnag district]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India on 4 July 1995 by forty militants from the [[Kashmiri separatist movement|Kashmiri Islamist militant organisation]] [[Harkat ul-Ansar|Harkat-ul-Ansar]],{{Efn|name=groups}}<ref>[https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199507040010 Incident Summary] at the [[Global Terrorism Database]].</ref> under the pseudonym of [[Al-Faran]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Al Faran |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Al+Faran |website=[[TheFreeDictionary.com]] |publisher=[[WordNet]], [[Princeton University]]}}</ref> in order to secure the release of Harkat leader [[Maulana Masood Azhar|Masood Azhar]] and other militants.<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>

When their demands were not met, Norwegian Hans Christian Ostrø was beheaded on 13 August 1995. American John Childs managed to escape on 17 August, while the rest have never been found, but are presumed dead by the [[Government of Jammu and Kashmir]] issuing [[death certificate]]s for the four on 28 January 2003.

==Background==
In 1989, Kashmiri militants<ref name=":3" /> began an [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|armed insurgency]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref name=":3">[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> [[Harkat ul-Ansar|Harkat-ul-Ansar]] (HuA),{{Efn|Harkat-ul-Ansar was the merger of [[Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami]] and [[Harkat-ul-Mujahideen]] in 1993. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had split from Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami 1985 but re-united, they split again in 1998. [[Jaish-e-Muhammad]] was formed as a splinter group of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen by [[Masood Azhar]] in 2000.<ref>[https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/harakat-ul-mujahedeen Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen]. [[Center for International Security and Cooperation]]. [[Foreign Service Institute]]. [[Stanford University]].</ref>|name=groups}} an anti-Indian militant group under the similar pseudonym of Al-Hadid, had already perpetrated the [[1994 kidnappings of western tourists in India]] in [[Delhi]], led by [[Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh]] to secure the release of HuA leaders. Sheikh was caught and ultimately imprisoned at the [[Tihar Jail]] in Delhi.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh |url=https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/ahmed-omar-saeed-sheikh |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=[[Counter Extremism Project]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Rath |first=Saroj Kumar |date=2020 |title=Ilyas Kashmiri through the Prism of HuJI, HuA, HuM, JeM, Brigade 313 and al Qaeda |url=https://www.academia.edu/44824474 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3704948 |s2cid=240721894 |issn=1556-5068|doi-access=free }}</ref> HuA then began using the pseudonym of Al-Faran and also committed a bus hijacking in Hapatnar in [[Anantnag district]] under that name.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Al-Faran |url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?perpetrator=1463 |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=[[Global Terrorism Database]]}}</ref>

==Kidnapping==
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 student, Dirk Hasert (14 August 1969–{{Circa|1995}}); and a [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] actor, Hans Christian Ostrø (1968-13 August 1995). 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 that the beheading was the 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 an 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://web.archive.org/web/20110713154404/http://m.kitsapsun.com/news/1996/Dec/23/report-spokane-man-killed-in-india/ |archivedate=13 July 2011 |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 faction 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|archive-date=24 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124104445/http://www.peacekashmir.org/jammu-kashmir/political-parties.htm|url-status=dead}}</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>

Al-Faran has been determined to be a pseudonym of [[Harkat-ul-Ansar]];<ref name=":1" />{{Efn|name=groups}} however HuA has denied having any ties to it.<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 had 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 [[United Kingdom|British]] tourist Paul Wells.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-06-mn-51354-story.html 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>[https://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>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130223203138/http://southasiaanalysis.org/paper1129 Paper]}}. South Asia Analysis Group.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/655/html |title=Al-Qaida and the Pakistani Harakat Movement: Reflections and Questions about the pre-2001 Period | Rassler | Perspectives on Terrorism |access-date=10 April 2018 |archive-date=10 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410175916/http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/655/html |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ghazi Baba]], Pakistani militant, suspected of involvement in the kidnapping
*[[1994 kidnappings of western tourists in India]]
*[[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]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

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

== Bibliography ==
* "Erneut Urlauber in Kaschmir vermisst", [[Süddeutsche Zeitung]], 12 July 1995.
* "Entführer in Kaschmir drohen erneut mit Geiselmord". [[Associated Press|Associated Press Worldstream]], 11 July 1995.
* Qaiser Mirza, "American Flees Captors in Kashmir", [[Chicago Sun-Times]], 10 July 1995.
* "Kaschmir-Geiseln wurden in Dorf gesichtet", [[Associated Press]], 31 December 1995.
* "Indien. Ein Grab im Dschungel", [[Focus (German magazine)|Focus Magazin]], 30 December 1996.
* "Western Hostages probably killed, says top Indian security official", Associated Press, 27 November 1998.
* Qaiser Mirza, "Kashmir police say skeleton may be of a foreign hostage", Associated Press, 25 October 2000.
* "Indian police exhume body, believed to be of Western hostage", [[BBC World|BBC Summary of World Broadcasts]], 27 October 2000.
* "Kashmir issues death certificates for Western hostages kidnapped in 1995", Global News Wire – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 28 January 2003.
* Izhar Wani, "American Beheading in Iraq revives memories of similar execution in Kashmir", [[Agence France-Presse|Agence France Presse]], 12 May 2004.
* Qaiser Mirza, "Kashmiri Separatists Kill One Western Hostage, Threaten Other Four", Associated Press, 13 August 1995.
* [http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/dirk-hasert--geisel-in-kaschmir,10810590,8989934.html Dirk Hasert, Geisel in Kaschmir.] ''[[Berliner Zeitung]]'', 16 August 1995.
* [http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/seit-einem-jahr-schweigen-die-entfuehrer-in-kaschmir-warten-auf-ein-zeichen,10810590,9208450.html Warten auf ein Zeichen / Seit einem Jahr schweigen die Entführer in Kaschmir.] ''Berliner Zeitung'', 27 November 1996.
* {{Cite news|title=American tricks captors in Kashmir and bolts to freedom|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/10/nyregion/american-tricks-captors-in-kashmir-and-bolts-to-freedom.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-07-10|access-date=2021-12-08|issn=0362-4331|language=en-US|first=Doreen|last=Carvajal}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.vg.no/i/7l03gv|title=-Spesialkommandoen skulle befri Osterø|work=[[vg.no]]|language=nb|date=23 September 2001|access-date=8 December 2021}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.tb.no/5-76-1455614|title=(+) Janne Hoem får Hans Christian Ostrøs minnepris: – Han satte uforglemmelige spor|last=Vatn|first=Vegar|work=Tønsbergs Blad|language=no|date=23 November 2020|access-date=8 December 2021}}

==External links==
*[https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199507040010 Incident Summary] at the [[Global Terrorism Database]]
*[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)
*[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/578369.stm Profile: Maulana Masood Azhar], [[BBC]], (16 December 2002)
*[http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/kaschmir_aid_154846.html ''Kaschmir: Terror im Paradies''.], [[FOCUS Online]], (28 August 1995)
*[http://rhein-zeitung.de/on/97/11/17/topnews/kaschmir.html Kaschmirgeiseln: Seit zweieinhalb Jahren entführt], [[Rhein-Zeitung]] (17 November 1997)
*{{cite web|url=http://www.mdr.de/mdr-info/3136230.html|title=''8. Juli 1995: Dirk Hasert in Kaschmir entführt''|date=6 July 2006}} [[Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk|MDR.DE]].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidnapping Of Western Tourists In Kashmir}}
[[Category:1990s in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:1990s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1995 murders in India]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 1995]]
[[Category:July 1995 crimes]]
[[Category:July 1995 in India]]
[[Category:Kashmir conflict]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in India]]
[[Category:Hostage taking in India]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Rao administration]]
[[Category:Kidnappings by Islamists]]
[[Category:Kidnapping in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Kidnappings in India]]
[[Category:Islamism-related beheadings]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in India]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 1995]]
[[Category:Attacks on tourists in Kashmir]]

1995 kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir-229270 - Revision history

Dlife at 01:20, 15 January 2026