Indian police said it was a “terrorist attack” carried out by combatants fighting Indian rule in the Caixemira region, near the tourist city of Pahalgam.
The death toll in an attack of armed men in the Indian part of Caxemira rose to 24, the France-Presse source of the Indian police told the agency.
“At least 24 people have been killed,” said the official to the news agency France Presse (AFP) under anonymous.
An official balance has not yet been announced, but the authorities have described the attack as the worst of recent years against civilians.
Indian police said it was a “terrorist attack” carried out by combatants fighting Indian rule in the Caixemira region, near the tourist city of Pahalgam.
The first reports indicated that armed men fired on most Indian tourists who visited the Baisaran Valley, about five kilometers from Pahalgam.
Authorities increased the number of members of the security forces and isolated the area, starting a search for aggressors. So far, no other detail has been released by the local responsible.
“These cowardly terrorists attacked innocent and unarmed tourists who had come to visit Caxemira,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi (People’s Party) regional official Ravinder Raina in statements to the Indian press.
“Some injured tourists were admitted to the local hospital,” he added.
About 3.5 million tourists visited Caxemira in 2024, most of which Indian tourists, according to official data.
In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting (the 20 countries with stronger economies) in srinaga under a strong security scheme to show that calm had returned after the repression followed the cancellation of the region’s limited autonomy by Nova Deli in 2019.
The rebels in the region of a Muslim majority have been insurgent since 1989, demanding independence or a fusion with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Caxemira region and which, like India, claims the entire region.
The fighters have slowed since 2019, when the government of Modi imposed direct control of the territory after revoking its partial autonomy.
India, which has 500,000 permanently highlighted soldiers in the territory, regularly accuses the Pakistan of supporting the militants.
Islamabad denies this accusation, claiming to give only his support for the self -determination of Caxemira.
