Armed men killed at least 26 tourists in a seaside resort in cashmere under Indian control, the police announced on Tuesday, in what seemed to be a major change in the regional conflict in which tourists were largely spared.
Police described the incident as a “terrorist attack” and blamed activists fighting against the Indian regime. “This attack is much greater than anything we have seen against civilians in recent years,” said Omar Abdullah, the best elected representative, written on social networks.
Two higher police officers said that at least four armed men, whom they described as activists, shot dozens of tourists at close range. The police said that at least three dozen others had been injured, many of whom in serious condition.
Most of the tourists killed were Indian, said the officers, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with departmental policy. Officials collected at least 24 bodies in Baisare Meadow, about five kilometers from the contested region’s seaside resort. Two others died while he was taken for medical treatment.
There was no immediate complaint of responsibility. Police and soldiers were looking for the attackers.
“We are going to descend a lot on the authors of the most difficult consequences,” wrote the Minister of India in India, Amit Shah, on social networks. He arrived in Srinagar, the main city of cashmere under Indian control, and summoned a meeting with the best security officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interrupted his two -day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi early Wednesday, reported the press agency Press Trust of India.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key resistance politician and the best religious religious in cashmere, condemned what he described as a “loose attack against tourists”, writing on social networks that “such violence is unacceptable and against the ethics of the cashmere that welcomes visitors with love and warmth”.
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The shots coincided with the visit of India to the American vice-president JD Vance, who called him “devastating terrorist attack”.
He added on social networks: “In the past few days, we have been overwhelmed by the beauty of this country and its inhabitants. Our thoughts and prayers are with them while they cry this horrible attack.”
President Donald Trump on social networks noted “a deeply disturbing news of cashmere. The United States is strong with India against terrorism ”. Other world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, condemned the attack.
The nuclear weapons of India and Pakistan each administer part of the cashmere, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
The cashmere saw a series of targeted murders of Hindu, including immigrant workers from the Indian states, after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and radically led to dissent, civil freedoms and media freedoms.
Tensions have simmered while India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations. But despite the tourists who clashed in cashmere in large numbers for its Himalayas and its decorated barges, they were not targeted.
The region has attracted millions of visitors who enjoy a strange peace held by omnipresent security checks, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers. New Delhi vigorously pushed tourism and claimed it as a sign of normality.
The meadow in Pahalgam is a popular destination, surrounded by snowy mountains and dotted with pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.
The opposition chief, Rahul Gandhi, while condemning the attack, said that the Modi government should assume responsibility instead of making “hollow complaints on the normal situation” in the region.
Activists of the part controlled by the Kashmir Indians are fighting against the reign of New Delhi since 1989. Many Muslim cashmiris support the objective of the territory rebels, either under the Pakistani domination, or as an independent country.
India insists that cashmere activism is terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. Pakistan denies the accusation, and many Kashmiris consider him a legitimate struggle of freedom. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces were killed in the conflict.
In March 2000, at least 35 civilians were shot in a village in the south while the president of the time, Bill Clinton, visited India. It was the deadliest attack in the region in recent years.
Violence has recently reflected in the cashmere valley, the heart of the anti-Indian rebellion. The fighting between government forces and rebels have largely moved to remote regions of the Jammu region, notably Adjéri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced fatal attacks.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
