Pahalgam attack: IAF officer from Arunachal among victims

Tage Hailyang from Ziro was holidaying with his wife in Jammu and Kashmir

GUWAHATI

People in rural Arunachal Pradesh often go to the gaonburah or village headman’s house to discuss or resolve various issues.

However, on Wednesday (April 23, 2025), many residents of Tajang, a part of Bulla Tage village in the Lower Subansiri district, began visiting headman Tage Tade’s house to mourn the loss of his son – Corporal Tage Hailyang, one of 26 people massacred by terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon.

The 30-year-old Corporal, who was posted at a base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Srinagar, was holidaying with his wife when members of The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, struck.

A devout Christian, he was married in December 2024, a member of his extended family said.

Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu mourned the death.

“Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Corporal Tage Hailyang of the Indian Air Force, a brave son of Arunachal Pradesh... While visiting Pahalgam with his wife, his life was cruelly taken in a senseless act of terror,” he posted on X.