Dozens killed as gunmen attack tourists in Indian Kashmir

Shooting took place in Pahalgam, a popular resort in the Himalayan state

Dozens of tourists were killed and several others injured after suspected militants opened fire at a popular resort in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, in one of the region's worst attacks in years.

A local police official told The National that at least 24 people died in the attack at Pahalgam, which local media said was claimed by a group calling itself The Resistance Front.

Images broadcast on Indian television showed bodies scattered on a grassy slope as people call for help. Government forces launched a manhunt after sealing off the area, which is accessible only on foot or on horseback.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has cut short a trip to Saudi Arabia to deal with the killings, vowed to defeat what he called the "evil agenda" of the attackers. "Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice ... they will not be spared," he said.

Authorities said two of the dead were foreign tourists, one a resident of the UAE and the other from Nepal. The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its "strong condemnation of these criminal acts and its permanent rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism".

A witness told local media that at least four armed militants emerged from a forest and opened fire on tourists gathered in a meadow. About 200 tourists and locals were believed to be present when the gunmen started firing.

Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of the region, said the “attack is much larger than anything we have seen directed at civilians in recent years”. The deadliest recent attack on tourists was in March 2000, when militants shot dead 35 people from the local Sikh community.

US visit

The latest attack at Pahalgam comes on the second day of US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India. Mr Vance offered his condolences for what he said was a "devastating terrorist attack". President Donald Trump called the attacks "deeply disturbing".

Mr Modi is expected back in India early on Wednesday after skipping an official dinner in Saudi Arabia, the Indian government said. He had been due back in

India and Pakistan each took control of parts of Kashmir when British rule ended in 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety. India-administered Kashmir has been the scene of a decades-long armed rebellion against Indian rule that has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.

India revoked the region's semi-autonomous status in 2019 and brought it under the direct control of the federal government. It accuses Pakistan of supporting the insurgency and about 500,000 troops are permanently stationed in the territory, with armed militancy on the decline in recent years.

Mr Modi's move to take control followed a suicide bombing in Kashmir in which about 40 soldiers were killed, an incident which almost brought the two nuclear-armed nations to the brink of war. Non-Kashmiris were allowed to buy property in the region a series of attacks on migrant workers from other Indian states followed.

However, Indian authorities have sought to promote tourism in the region, which is known for its glacial lakes, snow-capped mountains and pine trees. Pahalgam, located east of the regional capital Srinagar, is used as a base camp for the Amarnath pilgrimage, an annual trek to a cave shrine dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Nearly half a million Hindus trek there each summer, with government forces guarding the region.