Attack on tourists kills 26 in IIOJK, including Indian Navy officer

Kashmir Resistance claims responsibility for attack which also injured at least 17 people

SRINAGAR: At least 26 people were killed and 17 were injured when gunmen opened fire at tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the police said on Wednesday, marking the worst such attack in the region in nearly two decades.

The attack took place on Tuesday in the popular destination of Pahalgam — a renowned site for tourists in summer some 90 kilometres away from Srinagar.

The killings, which came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi, are the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings in which more than 160 people were killed.

PM Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi on Wednesday morning. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also cutting short her visit to the US and Peru "to be with our people in this difficult and tragic time", her ministry said.

The attack occurred in an off-the-road meadow and the dead included 25 Indians and one Nepalese national, police said.

A little-known group, 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".

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.

India revoked Kashmir's special status in 2019, splitting the state into two federally administered territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. 

The move allowed local authorities to issue domicile rights to outsiders, allowing them to get jobs and buy land in the disputed Himalayan territory. That led to a deterioration of ties with Pakistan. The dispute has spurred bitter animosity and military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Attacks targeting tourists in IIOJK have been rare. The last deadly incident took place in June 2024 when at least nine people were killed and 33 injured after an attack caused a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims to plunge into a deep gorge.

Trump offers full support to India

Reacting to the incident, PM Modi said: "Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger."

The premier decried the "heinous act" and pledged that the attackers "will be brought to justice".

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer "full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack".

Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged that "Europe will stand with you".

IIOJK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack had been "much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians in recent years".

"This attack on our visitors is an abomination," the CM added.

It is to be noted that India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory. In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter, and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.

Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.

The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.

In the latest attack, survivors said the gunmen targeted men, shooting some from point-blank range.

One woman survivor reported that men in uniform emerged from surrounding forests to a meadow where tourists were enjoying the peace of nature, The Indian Express newspaper reported.

Survivors said they had assumed they were policemen.

"They were there at least for 20 minutes, undeterred, moving around and opening fire," the newspaper quoted the survivor as saying.

"It seemed like an eternity."

The victims included an Indian Navy officer.