Armed men have opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least 26 people, according to Indian police, in one of the deadliest attacks there in recent times.
Police said multiple tourists received gunshot wounds in the “terror attack” on Tuesday while they were visiting Baisaran meadow, about 5km (3 miles) from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam.
Indian police told the Associated Press news agency that at least 26 people were killed and 17 wounded in the attack.
A little-known group, 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 what it called a “demographic change”.
Indian security agencies say Kashmir Resistance is a front for Pakistan-based armed organisations, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, which fight Indian rule in Kashmir. Pakistan says it only provides moral and diplomatic support.
Indian security forces launched a hunt for the attackers while the wounded were rushed to hospitals.
Two senior police officers also told AP that at least four gunmen fired at dozens of tourists from close range. All of those killed were men, and all but one were residents of India, according to a hospital list cited by the AFP news agency.
A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he approached the scene after hearing gunfire and helped transport some of the wounded away on horseback.
Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground. Another witness told AFP that the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.
Indian security analyst C Uday Bhaskar told Al Jazeera the attack likely had two main objectives: to draw global attention to the issue of Kashmir, which has been under an intensified military crackdown since its semi-autonomous status was revoked by the Indian government about six years ago, and deepen military tensions between India and Pakistan.
Given that the attack has made headlines across the world, “is indicative of the fact that the first box has been ticked”, he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cut short an official visit to Saudi Arabia after the attack, decried the “heinous act”, pledging that the attackers “will be brought to justice”.
In a separate incident in Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the army said on Wednesday that it killed two gunmen in a “heavy exchange of fire” after they launched an “infiltration bid” crossing from Pakistan.
United States President Donald Trump pledged his support for India.
The Indian government later said Trump called Modi, who had received US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi just a day before the attack, to offer his condolences.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the violence, his spokesperson said. He added that Guterres “stresses attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances”.
India’s Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah headed to Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir, where he said he would review the situation.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key separatist leader in Kashmir, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack on tourists” in a post on X.
The attack follows violence earlier this month in Kashmir between security forces and suspected rebels, which resulted in six deaths, including four officers.
Attacks targeting tourists in Kashmir have been rare in recent years, the last one dating back to June, when fighters attacked a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims, plunging it into a deep gorge and killing at least nine people.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Many in Muslim-majority, Indian-administered Kashmir support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory with Pakistan or creating an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir uprising is Pakistan-sponsored. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle.
The Indian government, led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), revoked Kashmir’s special status in 2019, splitting the state into two federally administered territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The same year, a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights accused India of human rights violations in Kashmir and called for a commission of inquiry into the allegations.
