At least one tourist has been killed and 13 others injured in a suspected terror attack in the disputed Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, authorities said.
The attack took place in a popular tourist destination in Pahalgam, in the mountainous Anantnag district.
A group of tourists were fired on by suspected militants and the injured were taken to the district’s main hospital for treatment, authorities said.
The attack took place in the Baisaran Valley, which is only accessible by foot or on horseback.
One eyewitness told the Indian news agency PTI that unidentified gunmen opened fire on the tourists from close range.
“My husband was shot in the head while seven others were also injured in the attack,” one woman survivor said, according to PTI.
Jammu and Kashmir’s chief minister Omar Abdullah called the attack “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years.”
The picturesque Himalayan region, which is administered in part by India and Pakistan, is no stranger to violence – but tourist-targeted attacks are rare.
For more than two decades, several domestic militant groups, demanding either independence for Kashmir or for the area to become part of Pakistan, have fought Indian security forces, with tens of thousands of people killed in the violence.
Violence surged in 2018, and the Indian government took greater control of the region in 2019 amid a heavy military presence and a monthslong communications blackout.
While the Indian government has said that militancy has since reduced, attacks continue to plague the region.
On Tuesday, a regional spokesperson from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Pakistan of fueling terrorism in the region and called the attack an “outcome of Pakistan’s frustration.”
“Pakistan and its proxies are unable to digest the return of peace and tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. They want to stifle growth and plunge the region back into fear. But we won’t allow that to happen,” Altaf Thakur said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the attack and sent his condolences to those who had been affected in a statement posted to X.
“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,” he said.
Pahalgam lies on a major pilgrimage route, known as the Amarnath Yatra, which takes place every year and has been exposed to previous attacks.
Thousands of tourists flock to Kashmir during its peak season each year, which runs from March to August.
The last major tourist attack in the region took place in June, when at least nine people were killed and 33 others were injured after a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged into a gorge after suspected militants fired on the vehicle.