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SRINAGAR, India: More than 400,000 Hindus took part in a month-long pilgrimage in contested Indian-run Kashmir, authorities said, shrugging off security worries weeks after conflict with Pakistan.

The pilgrimage began on July 3 and closes officially on August 9, but organizers said that lashing rains had damaged narrow paths forcing a premature end.

Official Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said in a statement late Saturday that 415,000 pilgrims had taken part.

Many of the faithful began their trek to the Amarnath ice pillar from near Pahalgam, where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists in the Muslim-majority region.

New Delhi said the gunmen were backed by Pakistan, claims Islamabad rejected — triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict.

It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, before a May 10 ceasefire.

New Delhi last week said that three Pakistani men who carried out the Pahalgam attack were killed during a gunbattle on July 28 in forests adjacent to the hills where the cave shrine is located.

A few devotees may still visit the cave, but the numbers this year fall short of the estimated half a million devotees who took part in 2024.

Officials appealed to Hindus to undertake the pilgrimage, ramping up security for the event by deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the grueling trek to the cave, dedicated to Shiva, the deity of destruction.

On Sunday, Indian forces exchanged fire with gunmen for a third day in Kulgam, far from the Amarnath pilgrimage route.

Soldiers have killed two militants, a senior police officer said.

Kashmir has been divided between the India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, with both administering it in part and claiming in full.

Rebel groups have fought Indian forces for decades, demanding Kashmir’s independence or its merger with Pakistan.

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand woman was arrested on Sunday after traveling on a bus with a two-year-old girl trapped in her luggage.
Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said the woman had been charged with ill-treatment and neglect of a child.
Police were called to a bus depot in Kaiwaka — 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Auckland — after the bus driver became concerned about a bag moving during a scheduled stop.
“When the driver opened the suitcase, they discovered the two-year-old girl,” Harrison said.
“The little girl was reported to be very hot, but otherwise appeared physically unharmed.”
The luggage had been stored beneath the bus passengers, in a separate compartment.
Harrison said the girl is in hospital undergoing an extensive medical assessment.
A 27-year-old woman was arrested.
Harrison said the driver prevented “what could have been a far worse outcome.”
He said further charges are possible.
New Zealand’s Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, had been notified.