Deadliest attack on civilians in years claims lives of over 26 people in Kashmir

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A little-known militant group has claimed responsibility for an attack that left at least 26 tourists dead at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

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.

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.

“The firing happened in front of us,” one witness told broadcaster India Today, without giving his name. “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 told India Today.

The attack happened in an off-the-road meadow and two or three militants were involved, the Indian Express newspaper reported, citing an unidentified senior police officer.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on 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.

A little-known militant group, the Kashmir Resistance, claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. It expressed discontent that more than 85,000 “outsiders” had been settled in the region, spurring a “demographic change”.

“Consequently, violence will be directed toward those attempting to settle illegally,” it said.

The regional government of Indian-administered Kashmir, where Pahalgam is located, told its legislature this month that nearly 84,000 non-locals, from within India, had been given domicile rights in the territory in the last two years.

What led to the attack?

Militant violence has afflicted the Himalayan region, claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, since an armed rebellion against Indian forces began in 1989. Tens of thousands of people have been killed over the years, although violence has tapered off recently.

India revoked Kashmir’s special status in 2019, splitting the state into two federally administered territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The move allowed local authorities to issue domicile rights to outsiders, allowing them to get jobs and buy land in the territory.

That led to a deterioration of ties with Pakistan, which also claims the region. The dispute has spurred bitter animosity and military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.