New Delhi — At the least 20 vacationers have been killed and plenty of others injured Tuesday when suspected militants opened fireplace on civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in accordance with reviews on Indian and worldwide media. Many retailers, together with the French information company AFP, cited unnamed safety officers who put the loss of life toll as excessive as 24, however there was no quick affirmation on casualties from authorities.
Two senior cops, who additionally spoke on situation of anonymity, instructed the Related Press not less than 20 our bodies had been recovered after a number of gunmen fired at dozens of vacationers from shut vary Tuesday. The officers mentioned not less than three dozen others have been injured, with many in severe situation.
The assault befell in South Kashmir’s Pahalgam space, a scenic vacation spot dotted with meadows and glaciers that pulls tons of of 1000’s of Indian and overseas vacationers each summer time. That vacationer visitors has elevated during the last 12 months, as militant violence within the wider Kashmir area, which is disputed between India and neighboring Pakistan, has waned.
Folks injured in Tuesday’s assault have been taken to close by hospitals. Police, military and paramilitary forces launched a search operation to search out these chargeable for the assault.
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“Our reports say that two-three militants appeared and opened indiscriminate fire at the tourists,” The Indian Specific newspaper quoted a senior police officer as saying, with out naming him.
“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,” Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, wrote in a publish on social media.
Abdullah referred to as the assault “shocking beyond belief” and mentioned no phrases of condemnation might be adequate to chastise these behind the taking pictures.
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The assault got here as U.S. Vice President JD Vance, alongside along with his spouse Usha and their kids, paid a largely private go to to India. Vance met earlier within the week with India’s chief, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Usha Vance is a training Hindu whose dad and mom are from India.
It was the worst assault within the conflict-hit area in practically a 12 months, and it got here at a time when tourism in Kashmir was recovering. The final main assault occurred in June 2024, when 9 individuals have been killed and 33 injured as militants attacked a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims.
Eight pilgrims have been killed and 19 injured in an analogous assault within the area in 2017, when militants attacked a bus carrying them again from the well-known Amarnath Cave Temple in south Kashmir.
Kashmir is claimed in full by each India and Pakistan, however every nation has managed its personal portion of the mountainous area for many years.
The scenic Himalayan area has been hit recurrently by militant violence since an armed anti-Indian insurgency started in 1989. The simmering battle has claimed tens of 1000’s of lives over greater than three many years.
“I strongly condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest,” Prime Minister Modi mentioned in a social media publish. “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.”
India’s House Minister Amit Shah mentioned he would go to the area to overview safety measures.
“Anguished by the terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. My thoughts are with the family members of the deceased,” Shah mentioned in a social media publish, including: “Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences.”
