Srinagar, India, Apr 22 (EFE).— Gunmen opened fire on a group of Indian tourists strolling through a high-altitude meadow in the disputed Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 13, officials said.
Authorities blamed insurgents for the attack, which they described as the deadliest on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir in years.
Police told EFE that the victims were walking through the Baisaran meadow on the outskirts of the southern resort town of Pahalgam, roughly 100 km from the regional capital, Srinagar, when the gunmen struck at close range.
The alpine pasture, reachable only on foot or horseback, is a popular picnic spot for locals and visitors from across India.
Survivors quoted by Indian TV channels said the assailants demanded to know the tourists’ religion before opening fire, claiming some were not Muslim.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote on X that the scale of the carnage was bigger than any other recent attack on civilians, though he did not release an official casualty count.
“The death toll is still being ascertained, so I don’t want to get into those details. They will be officially conveyed as the situation becomes clearer. Needless to say, this attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” said Abdullah, who heads the regional government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official trip to Saudi Arabia, strongly condemned the attack.
“Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice. They will not be spared. Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable, and it will get even stronger,» Modi wrote on X.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah flew to Kashmir soon after the shooting and convened an emergency meeting with army, paramilitary, and police commanders.
No arrests had been reported by late Tuesday, but security forces cordoned off the area and launched a manhunt in the thick forests of the south Kashmir resort.
Because vehicles cannot reach the meadow, critically injured victims were airlifted to the hospital by army helicopter while others trekked down the slope with minor wounds.
The attack is the deadliest against civilians in the region since March 2000, when 36 villagers were killed in southern Kashmir.
The bloodiest overall incident in recent years remains the February 2019 suicide car bombing that killed 40 paramilitary troopers.
Kashmir has been contested by India and Pakistan since partition in 1947. An armed insurgency erupted in 1989, claiming tens of thousands of lives. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of aiding the militants, a charge Pakistan denies. EFE
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