Several killed as gunmen fire at tourists in Kashmir

‘Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice...they will not be spared,’ says Indian PM Modi

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Gunmen shot dead at least 24 tourists at a resort in Kashmir, police said on Tuesday, in what 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.

Suspected militants opened fire in India’s Kashmir region on Tuesday, killing several tourists and wounding eight other people, a police source told reporters, in the worst such attack in the territory in nearly a year.

The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular destination in the scenic Muslim-majority territory that has drawn thousands of summer visitors as militant violence has eased in recent years.

The injured were sent to a local hospital, the source said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

"The death toll is still being ascertained so I don't want to get into those details," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on X. "Needless to say this attack is much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians in recent years."