At least 26 killed, 17 injured in attack on tourists in Indian-occupied Kashmir
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The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular destination in the scenic Muslim-majority territory
(Reuters/AFP) - Twenty-six people were killed and 17 were injured when suspected militants opened fire at tourists in India's Jammu and Kashmir territory, police said on Wednesday, the worst such attack in the country in nearly two decades.
The attack took place on Tuesday in the popular destination of Pahalgam in the scenic Muslim-majority territory, that has seen a resurgence in mass tourism as insurgent violence waned in recent years.
The attack occurred in an off-the-road meadow and the dead included 25 Indians and one Nepalese national, police said.
It was the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings in which more than 160 people were killed.
On Wednesday, over a dozen local organisations called for a shutdown in the federal territory to protest against the attack on tourists, whose rising numbers have helped the local economy.
Many schools also suspended classes for the day in protest.
Airlines were operating extra flights from Srinagar, the summer capital of the territory, as visitors were rushing out of the region, officials said.
AFP adds: “The firing happened in front of us,” one witness told broadcaster India Today, without giving his name. “We thought someone was setting off firecrackers, but when we heard other people [screaming], we quickly got out of there …, saved our lives and ran.”
“For four kilometres, we did not stop … I am shaking,” another witness told India Today.
A tour guide told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and transported some of the wounded away on horseback.
“I saw a few men lying on the ground looking like they were dead,” said Waheed, who gave only one name.
Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including at least two with gunshot wounds, one with a bullet injury to the neck.
The attack took place in an off-the-road meadow and two or three suspects were involved, the Indian Express newspaper reported, citing an unidentified senior police officer.
“The death toll is still being ascertained so I don’t want to get into those details,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X.
“Needless to say, this attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years.” The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.
A little-known group called the “Kashmir Resistance” claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. It expressed discontent that more than 85,000 “outsiders” had been settled in the region, spurring a “demographic change”.
“Consequently, violence will be directed toward those attempting to settle illegally,” it said. Reuters could not independently verify the source of the message.
The regional government of IoK, where Pahalgam is located, told its legislature this month that nearly 84,000 non-locals, from within India, had been given domicile rights in the territory in the last two years.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, which tragically killed five and injured several,” said Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of the region, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party.
Fighters in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, although violence has tapered off in recent years.
Attacks targeting tourists in IoK have been rare in recent years, but not unknown.
The last major attack on visitors in the federal territory took place in June when at least nine people were killed and 33 injured when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged into a deep gorge after fighters attacked it.
Some major attacks during the height of the insurgency coincided with visits from high-profile foreign officials to India, in likely attempts to draw global attention to IoK, Indian security agencies have said.
Tuesday’s attack came a day after US Vice President JD Vance began a four-day, largely personal visit to India.
Security meeting
“Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice … They will not be spared!” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X.
“Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger.”
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he was rushing to IoK to hold a security meeting. “Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” Shah said in a statement.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, called the killings “heartbreaking”.
“The whole country is united against terrorism,” he said in a statement, urging the federal government to “take accountability”.
