Pakistan on Wednesday said it was “concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives” as 26 people were killed when gunmen opened fire on visitors in a popular destination in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) a day ago.
The attack, which police said injured another 17 people, took place in Pahalgam — a tourist hotspot in the scenic Muslim-majority territory that draws thousands of visitors every summer.
At least 26 people were killed, all men, AFP reported, citing a hospital list of the dead that was verified by police. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.
What we know so far:
All gunned down were men from across India, barring one from Nepal
Heavy security near site as India launches search operation, claims killing 2 in ‘infiltration attempt’
Trump offers Modi ‘full support’ as China, others condemn incident
Modi to convene security cabinet meeting in evening
Call for shutdown in IoK in protest against attack
Responding to media queries concerning the attack, FO Spokesperson Shafqat Khan in a statement said: “We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in Anantnag district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
“We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he added.
Former foreign minister Khurram Dastgir Khan also expressed his concern over the loss of life during the attack.
“Condolences to families and near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he said in a post on X.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers “will be brought to justice”.
The killings came a day after Modi met in New Delhi with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife and children.
All the dead were listed as residents of India — many from across the country — except one living in Nepal. The dead included a navy officer, The Hindu reported.
Some of the victims were from distant regions of India, which included Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Many of their bodies were brought to Srinagar today by a fleet of ambulances, as military helicopters soared overhead, searching the forested mountain flanks for signs of the attackers.
A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
An Indian military helicopter is seen in flight as viewed from Pahalgam, south of Srinagar on April 23, 2025, following an attack. — AFP
A similar incident took place ahead of former US president Bill Clinton’s visit to Delhi in the year 2000, when 36 Indians were killed, but there has been considerable dispute over who staged it.
At the time, India had blamed Pakistan-based militants, but Indian and Kashmiri observers decried it as an alleged plot by the Indian army.
Following the attack, several Indian media outlets and social media accounts began linking the attack to Pakistan, without any evidence to substantiate the claim.
While pundits on Indian TV channels ratcheted up their customary anti-Pakistan rhetoric, there was no official finger-pointing towards Islamabad in the hours immediately following the attack.
According to The Statesman, local police only reposted the X posts of the president, the prime minister, the home minister, and the local governor.
Senator Sherry Rehman, while condemning the “shocking terror attack”, said: “Unfortunately, the reflexive finger-pointing already at play against Pakistan has become the boilerplate response for a New Delhi that is unable to contain its own spectacular failures amidst a fundamentalist meltdown.”
“Voices of reason that urge strategic stability, responsible engagement across the LoC (Line of Control) are ignored, even ridiculed,” the former federal minister said.
Rehman stressed that “stridency-on-steroids is not a foreign policy”.
Former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique condemned Indian media’s attempt to blame Pakistan for the attack “without any evidence”, calling it “highly irresponsible, absurd and baseless”.
India hunts gunmen
AFP journalists near the site of the attack in Pahalgam reported a heavy deployment of security forces.
“The search operation is currently in progress, with all efforts focused on bringing the attackers to justice,” the Indian army said in a statement.
Hundreds of security forces rushed to the Pahalgam area soon after the attack and a massive combing operation was launched in the forests there, two security sources told Reuters.
About 100 people suspected of having been resistance sympathisers in the past were called to police stations and questioned, they added.
Indian police officers stand guard in front of a clock tower following an attack near south Kashmir’s scenic Pahalgam, at Lal Chowk area in Srinagar on April 23, 2025. — Reuters
Following the attack, the Indian army claimed to have killed two fighters along with foiling an infiltration attempt in the Uri sector in IoK’s north, The Indian Express said.
Modi held a meeting with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in the morning after he cut short his state visit to Saudi Arabia over the attack, The Indian Express reported.
A special security cabinet meeting had been called for 6pm (5:30pm PKT), a defence ministry official said.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah also rushed to the region to coordinate with authorities and met the survivors, the outlet added.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also cutting short her visit to the United States and Peru “to be with our people in this difficult and tragic time”, her ministry said.
Pahalgam lies 90 kilometres by road from the key city of Srinagar. It sits on a scenic meadow that has been used as a backdrop in Indian movies, most notably Bobby.
It also falls on the route of the annual Amarnath Yatra — a Hindu pilgrimage to a cave shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva — which makes it one of the most protected regions of India-held Jammu and Kashmir.
The brazen attack in the highly protected zone has raised eyebrows across the region.
‘Men targeted’
A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and had transported some of the wounded away on horseback.
Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.
One woman survivor described how men in uniform emerged from forests at a meadow where tourists were enjoying the peace of nature, The Indian Express newspaper reported.
Paramedics and police personnel move an injured tourist to a hospital in Anantnag, south of Srinagar.—AFP
Survivors said they had assumed they were policemen.
“They were there at least for 20 minutes, undeterred, moving around and opening fire”, the newspaper quoted the survivor as saying.
“The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” a witness who asked not to be identified told AFP.
“They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes a single shot and sometimes many bullets. It was like a storm,” said the man, who cares for horses that are popular with tourists in the area.
The witness said dozens of people fled as the gunmen opened fire. “They all started running around in panic,” he added.
Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including those with gunshot wounds.
“The firing happened in front of us,” one witness told broadcaster India Today, without giving his name, according to Reuters.
“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 was quoted as telling India Today.
The attack occurred in an off-the-road meadow and two or three gunmen were involved, the Indian Express newspaper reported, citing an unidentified senior police officer.
Witnesses told The Wire that the meadow, which is not serviced by road and can be reached on foot, horseback or by chopper, was buzzing with tourists on Tuesday as the weather had improved after many days of rain and thunderstorms.
Shutdown call
Over a dozen local organisations called for a shutdown in IoK to protest against the attack on tourists, whose rising numbers are said to have helped the local economy.
Many schools also suspended classes for the day in protest.
Airlines were operating extra flights from Srinagar as visitors were rushing out of the region, officials said.
The main highway connecting Srinagar to the rest of the country had been damaged by heavy rain and was shut for repairs, pushing up demand for flights, they said.
Television visuals showed tourists carrying their bags to taxis and filing out of a hotel in Srinagar.
“How can we continue our trip in such a situation?” Sameer Bhardwaj, a tourist from New Delhi, told ANI. “We need to prioritise our safety. We can only travel if our minds are relaxed but everyone is tense here. So, we cannot continue to travel.”
Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu’s office said four special flights from Srinagar — two to Delhi and two to Mumbai — have been arranged, with additional flights kept on standby to cater to further evacuation needs.
“Naidu also held an urgent meeting with all airline operators and … directed [them] to maintain regular fare levels, ensuring that no passenger is burdened during this sensitive time,” it said in a statement.
Trump offers Modi ‘full support’
In Washington, the White House said US President Donald Trump had been briefed on what a White House spokesperson described as a “brutal terrorist attack”.
India’s foreign ministry subsequently said Trump called Modi and “expressed full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”.
In his message yesterday as well, Trump said India had the “full support” of the US. “The United States stands strong with India against terrorism.”
Vance offered condolences in a social media post, calling it a “horrific attack”.
In New York, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “strongly condemns” the attack.
China’s foreign ministry offered “sincere sympathies”.
“We mourn the victims and extend our sincere sympathies to the families of the victims and the injured,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, adding China “strongly condemns this attack”.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged: “Europe will stand with you.”
Among other foreign leaders condemning the attack were Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and New Zealand.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that “the attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”, with the death toll still uncertain.
“This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” he added in a statement.
“The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, called the attack “extremely condemnable and heartbreaking,” while urging the government to move beyond what he termed “hollow claims” of peace in IoK.
“The whole country is united against terrorism,” Gandhi said.
Holiday destination
India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, whose limited autonomy Modi’s government revoked in 2019.
“Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement.
In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for winter skiing and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.
In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call “normalcy and peace” were returning after a massive crackdown.
A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) between Pakistan and India.
India blames Pakistan for pushing fighters across the LoC to launch attacks on Indian forces.
However, Islamabad has repeatedly denied the allegation.
