Police suspect terrorist attack Attackers kill at least 20 tourists in Kashmir
Attacks in Kashmir have so far mostly targeted Indian security forces. Now, gunmen have killed more than 20 tourists in an attack and at least three dozen people have been injured.
22.04.2025, 19:20
dpa
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- More than 20 tourists are killed in an attack in Kashmir.
- Police are calling it a terrorist attack by extremists fighting Indian rule.
- Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan.
Gunmen have killed at least 20 people in an attack in the Indian-controlled part of the Himalayan region of Kashmir, according to police. At least four attackers opened fire at close range in Baisaran on Tuesday, two senior police officials said. At least three dozen people were injured, many of them seriously.
Police said it was a terror attack by extremists fighting Indian rule near the resort town of Pahalgam. "This attack is much bigger than anything we have seen in recent years on civilians," regional government chief Omar Abdullah wrote on social media.
According to initial reports, the attackers targeted mostly Indian visitors to the so-called Baisaran Meadow, a picturesque stretch of nature about five kilometers from Pahalgam. It is a popular excursion destination for hundreds of tourists every day. Police and soldiers cordoned off the area and launched a search operation for the attackers.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he was on his way to Srinagar, the most important city in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, where he wanted to get an idea of the situation. "We will punish the perpetrators with the harshest consequences," he wrote on the short message service X.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, an important leader of the Kashmiri resistance against Indian rule, spoke of a "cowardly attack on tourists". "Such violence is unacceptable and goes against the ethos of Kashmir, which welcomes visitors with love and warmth. We condemn it in the strongest terms," he wrote on X.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan. However, both nuclear powers claim the entire region for themselves and have already fought several wars over it. Rebels have been active in the region since 1989. They are demanding either an independent state or annexation to Pakistan. The conflict has cost the lives of tens of thousands of people.