Indian police say gunmen have killed at least 20 tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Two senior police officers said at least four gunmen, whom they described as militants, fired at dozens of tourists from close range on Tuesday, April 22. The officers said at least three dozen others were injured, many in serious condition. They spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy. Officials collected at least 20 bodies in Baisaran meadow, some five kilometers from the disputed region's resort town of Pahalgam.
Police described the incident as a "terror attack" and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule. It appeared to be a major shift in the regional conflict, in which tourists have largely been spared. "This attack is much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians in recent years," Omar Abdullah, the region's top elected official, wrote on social media. Police were searching for the attackers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
India's home minister, Amit Shah, was heading to Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official visit in Saudi Arabia, has been briefed. "We will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences," Shah wrote on social media.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key Kashmiri resistance leader, condemned what he described as a "cowardly attack on tourists," writing on social media that "such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and warmth."
The attack coincided with the visit to India of US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a largely personal four-day stop. "Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack," Vance said on social media.