Gunmen shot dead at the least 26 tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said Tuesday, in what gave the impression to be a significant shift within the regional conflict wherein tourists have largely been spared.
Police described the incident as a “terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule. “This attack is way larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians lately,” Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, wrote on social media.
Two senior law enforcement officials said at the least 4 gunmen, whom they described as militants, fired at dozens of tourists from close range. The officers said at the least three dozen others were injured, many in serious condition.
A lot of the tourists killed were Indian, the officers said, speaking on condition of anonymity consistent with departmental policy. Officials collected at the least 24 bodies in Baisaran meadow, some five kilometres from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam. Two others died while being taken for medical treatment.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police and soldiers were looking for the attackers.
“We are going to come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” India’s home minister, Amit Shah, wrote on social media. He arrived in Srinagar, the foremost city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, and convened a gathering with top security officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cutting short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returning to Latest Delhi early Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key resistance politician and Kashmir’s top religious cleric, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack on tourists,” writing on social media that “such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and heat.”
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The gunfire coincided with the visit to India of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who called it a “devastating terrorist attack.”
He added on social media: “Over the past few days, we have now been overcome with the great thing about this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack.”
U.S. President Donald Trump on social media noted “deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir. The USA stands strong with India against terrorism.” Other global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, condemned the attack.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but each claim the territory in its entirety.
Kashmir has seen a spate of targeted killings of Hindus, including immigrant staff from Indian states, after Latest Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.
Tensions have been simmering as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations. But despite tourists flocking to Kashmir in huge numbers for its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, they’ve not been targeted.
The region has drawn tens of millions of tourists who enjoy a wierd peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armoured vehicles and patrolling soldiers. Latest Delhi has vigorously pushed tourism and claimed it as an indication of normalcy returning.
The meadow in Pahalgam is a well-liked destination, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dotted with pine forests. It’s visited by a whole lot of tourists day by day.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, while condemning the attack, said the Modi government should take accountability as an alternative of constructing “hole claims on the situation being normal” within the region.
Militants within the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting Latest Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and plenty of Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of 1000’s of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed within the conflict.
In March 2000, at the least 35 civilians were shot and killed in a southern village while then-U.S. President Bill Clinton was visiting India. It was the region’s deadliest attack lately.
Violence has ebbed in recent times within the Kashmir Valley, the guts of anti-India revolt. Fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to distant areas of Jammu region including Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
