SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
By Aijaz Hussain
Srinagar, India: Gunmen shot dead at least 26 tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said, in what appeared to be a major shift in the regional conflict in which tourists have largely been spared.
The attack took place on Tuesday in a meadow in the Pahalgam area of the scenic, Himalayan federal territory and the dead included 25 Indians and one Nepalese national, police said.
Paramedics carry a wounded tourist on a stretcher.Credit: AP
It was the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings, and shattered the relative calm in Kashmir, where tourism has boomed as an anti-India insurgency has waned in recent years. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
The meadow where the attack happened is accessible only by foot or on horseback, the New York Times reported. It is a popular destination, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dotted with pine forests, and is often referred to as a “mini Switzerland”. Hundreds of people visit it every day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi on Wednesday morning in light of the shootings, which police described as a “terror attack”, blaming militants fighting against Indian rule.
The gunfire coincided with the visit to India of US Vice President J.D. Vance, who called the shooting a “devastating terrorist attack” and said his prayers were with those affected.
Police said at least four gunmen, whom they described as militants, fired at dozens of tourists from close range on Tuesday, Kashmir time. Seventeen people were also injured.
“The firing happened in front of us,” one witness told broadcaster India Today. “We thought someone was setting off firecrackers, but when we heard other people [screaming], we quickly got out of there … saved our lives and ran.”
“For four kilometres, we did not stop … I am shaking,” another witness said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police and soldiers were searching for the attackers.
The Pahalgam area often referred to as a “mini Switzerland” and is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.Credit: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Modi posted on X that those responsible for the “heinous act” would 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.”
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key resistance politician and Kashmir’s top religious cleric, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack on tourists,” writing on social media that “such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and warmth”.
Kashmir has seen a spate of targeted killings of Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.
Tensions have been simmering as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations. But despite tourists flocking to Kashmir in huge numbers for its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, they have not been targeted.
The region has drawn millions of visitors who enjoy a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armoured vehicles and patrolling soldiers. New Delhi has vigorously pushed tourism and claimed it as a sign of normalcy returning.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, while condemning the attack, said the Modi government should take accountability instead of making “hollow claims on the situation being normal” in the region.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
In March 2000, at least 35 civilians were shot and killed in a southern village while then US president Bill Clinton was visiting India. It was the region’s deadliest attack in recent years.
Violence has ebbed in recent times in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion. Fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to remote areas of Jammu region, including Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.
AP, Reuters
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
