Dozens massacred in IIOJK tourist hotspot

PAHALGAM:

At least 26 people were killed on Tuesday in the Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on tourists, security sources told AFP, in the disputed region's deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, visiting Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, cut short his trip following the deadly shooting attack, foreign ministry officials said.

He decried the "heinous act" in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers "will be brought to justice".

"Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice... they will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed," Modi wrote on X.

"Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger."

The killings come a day after Modi met in New Delhi with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife and children.

A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and had transported some of the wounded away on horseback.

Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were "clearly sparing women".

Pahalgam lies 90 kilometres by road from Srinagar. One security source said that foreign tourists were among those shot, but there was no official confirmation.

Other security sources and some Indian media reported late Tuesday that 26 people had died, an increase from the 24 that a senior local police officer had earlier told AFP.

No group has claimed responsibility.

Vance offered condolences in a social media post, while President Donald Trump said "the United States stands strong with India against Terrorism".

"The militants, I can't say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing," said the witness who asked not to be identified.

"They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes single shot and sometimes many bullets, it was like a storm," said the man, who cares for horses that are popular with tourists in the area.

The witness said dozens of people fled as the gunmen opened fire. "They all started running around in panic", he added.

IIOJK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that "the attack is much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians in recent years", with the death toll still uncertain.

"This attack on our visitors is an abomination," he added in a statement. "The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt."

Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including with gunshot wounds.

India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the disputed territory.

"Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger," Modi said in a statement.