JAMMU: At least 24 people were killed in India-occupied Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists on Tuesday, a senior police officer said, with authorities calling it the worst attack on civilians in years.
“At least 24 people have been killed,” the senior police officer in Kashmir told AFP on condition of anonymity, with the toll not yet announced officially.
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular destination in the scenic Muslim-majority territory, that draws thousands of visitors every summer as gunmen violence has reduced in recent years.
The injured had been rushed to a local hospital, the source said on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
One security source put the death toll at 20, while a second put it at 24 and a third at 26. All three spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Indian TV channels reported earlier that one person was killed and seven were injured in the attack.
“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.
“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”.
India revoked IoK’s special status in 2019, splitting the state into two federally administered territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The move also allowed local authorities to issue domicile rights to outsiders, allowing them to get jobs and buy land in the territory.
That led to a deterioration of ties with Pakistan. The dispute has been at the root of bitter animosity and military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the occupied territory.
In recent years, the authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months and to escape the sweltering heat during the summer elsewhere in India.
In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call “normalcy and peace” were returning after a massive crackdown following New Delhi’s revocation of the region’s limited autonomy in 2019.
Around 3.5 million tourists visited IoK in 2024, according to official figures, the majority domestic visitors.
A string of resorts is being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides the region between India and Pakistan.
