More than 20 killed after gunmen open fire on tourists

 AT least two dozen peo­ple have been killed after gunmen opened fire on a group of domestic tourists visiting a popular beauty spot in Indian-ad­ministered Kashmir, authorities have told the BBC.

The attack took place in Pahal­gam, a picturesque town in the Himalayas often described as the “Switzerland of India”.

The region’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, said the attack was “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”. Reports suggest that there are a large number of wounded, with some in critical condition.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the perpetrators would “be brought to justice”.

“Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakeable and it will get even stronger,” Modi wrote in a state­ment on X.

Home Minister Amit Shah travelled to Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city, on Tuesday to hold an emergency security meeting.

The region’s Lieutenant Gover­nor, Manoj Sinha, said the army and police had been deployed to the scene.

No group has claimed responsi­bility for the attack. There has been a long-running insurgency in the Muslim-majority region since 1989, although violence has waned in recent years.

The attack took place in Baisa­ran, a mountain-top meadow three miles (5km) from Pahalgam.

Vehicles are unable to reach the area where the shooting occurred, Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Vidi Kumar Birdi told BBC Hindi.

A tourist from Gujarat, who was part of a group that was fired upon, said that chaos broke out after the sudden attack, and everybody start­ed running, crying and shouting.

Video footage shared by Indian media outlets appears to show Indian troops running towards the scene of the attack, while in other footage victims can be heard saying that the gunmen had singled out non-Muslims.

Footage on social media, which has not been verified by the BBC, appears to show bodies lying on a meadow with people crying and pleading for help.

Police said multiple tourists had been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. The area has been cordoned off and soldiers are stopping vehicles at checkpoints. A joint search operation by the Indi­an army and Jammu and Kashmir police is ongoing.

Several protests have been or­ganised for Wednesday.

Since the 1990s, an armed sep­aratist insurgency against Indian rule in the region has claimed tens of thousands of lives, including those of civilians and security forces.

The Himalayan region was divided following India’s indepen­dence from Britain, partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

—BBC

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