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Disputed Kashmir witnesses deadliest attack on civilians in years, sparking fears of rising tensions

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Disputed Kashmir witnesses deadliest attack on civilians in years, sparking fears of rising tensions
News

News

Disputed Kashmir witnesses deadliest attack on civilians in years, sparking fears of rising tensions

2025-04-23 19:48 Last Updated At:19:52

NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 26 people were killed and 17 others wounded after gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region that has seen an anti-India rebellion for more than three decades.

Tuesday’s attack took place in the picturesque town of Pahalgam in the Himalayan mountains, popular with Indian visitors.

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FILE- A paramilitary soldier stands guard as cars drive past him during a Formula-4 race organized to boost adventure tourism in the region, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

FILE- A paramilitary soldier stands guard as cars drive past him during a Formula-4 race organized to boost adventure tourism in the region, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Indian Army soldiers patrol in armored vehicle near Pahalgam in south Kashmir after assailants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists visiting Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian Army soldiers patrol in armored vehicle near Pahalgam in south Kashmir after assailants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists visiting Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A relative wails during the funeral procession of Adil Hussain Shah, a daily-wage worker, who died when militants indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of mainly tourists on Tuesday, at his village Hapatnar, about 20 km (13 miles) from Pahalgam where the incident took place, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A relative wails during the funeral procession of Adil Hussain Shah, a daily-wage worker, who died when militants indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of mainly tourists on Tuesday, at his village Hapatnar, about 20 km (13 miles) from Pahalgam where the incident took place, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants indiscriminately opened fired at tourists on Tuesday, Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants indiscriminately opened fired at tourists on Tuesday, Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Security personnel patrol a street the morning after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Security personnel patrol a street the morning after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

FILE- Pakistan Rangers' soldiers face Indian Border Security Force soldiers at a daily closing ceremony on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill, File)

FILE- Pakistan Rangers' soldiers face Indian Border Security Force soldiers at a daily closing ceremony on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill, File)

A staffer waves to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the his family as they visit the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, April 23, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

A staffer waves to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the his family as they visit the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, April 23, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

Indian security officers patrol a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian security officers patrol a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

An Indian security officer patrols a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

An Indian security officer patrols a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Police accused rebels of masterminding the attack, which sparked outrage and drew international condemnation, including from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Pahalgam is in the Baisaran meadow, locally known as “mini Switzerland” and is accessible only on foot or horseback. The town is a major tourist destination because of its alpine meadows, pine forests, snow-clad slopes and trekking routes.

It also lies on a major annual Hindu pilgrimage route, the Amarnath Yatra, and serves as one of its largest base camps, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. This year’s pilgrimage starts on July 3 and ends on August 9.

The attack on Tuesday hasn't been claimed by any group so far, and on Wednesday, Indian soldiers were still searching for the attackers.

Many fear the tourism industry, which employs thousands of people, will be negatively affected.

This also comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is soon expected to inaugurate a multibillion-dollar railway line to Kashmir Valley, which his government says will help tourism and economic development in the region.

Modi has decried the “heinous act” and pledged the militants“will be brought to justice."

India’s powerful home minister, Amit Shah, visited the attack site on Wednesday.

India and Pakistan have each laid claim to Kashmir since war broke out following the British partition of the subcontinent in 1947. Border skirmishes have long created instability in the region.

The two arch rivals have also fought three wars over Kashmir, where armed insurgents have resisted Indian rule for decades, with many Muslim Kashmiris supporting the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India has accused Pakistan of fomenting violence in the Muslim-majority region. Islamabad 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 2019, Modi's government revoked Kashmir’s semiautonomous status and imposed sweeping security measures. Since then, his government has kept order in the region with a huge security presence and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.

Militants had attacked civilians before, but the last major attack was in 2000. And though the region has seen a spate of targeted killings in remote mountains in recent years, violence has largely declined in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion.

Indian tourism has flourished in Kashmir after the Modi government promoted visits to the region with the hope of showing rising tourism numbers as a sign of renewed stability there, albeit under heavy security presence, checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers.

Millions of visitors now arrive in Kashmir every year to see its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, as the fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to the region of Jammu’s remote areas, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.

Tuesday's attack came as U.S. vice-president JD Vance was on a sightseeing trip to the Indian city of Jaipur on Tuesday, a day after meeting with Modi in New Delhi.

Vance condemned the killings, saying: “Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack.”

He will be in the Indian city of Agra on Wednesday to visit the iconic Taj Mahal monument, which is some 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away from the attack site.

Trump also denounced the attack and expressed solidarity “with India against terrorism” and called Modi to convey his sympathies, according to Indian authorities.

Other leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates also expressed condemnation.

Militants had previously planned attacks to coincide with high-profile visits.

One of the most notorious attacks was the killing of at least 35 civilians in a village in Kashmir shortly before a visit to India by then-President Bill Clinton.

FILE- A paramilitary soldier stands guard as cars drive past him during a Formula-4 race organized to boost adventure tourism in the region, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

FILE- A paramilitary soldier stands guard as cars drive past him during a Formula-4 race organized to boost adventure tourism in the region, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Indian Army soldiers patrol in armored vehicle near Pahalgam in south Kashmir after assailants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists visiting Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian Army soldiers patrol in armored vehicle near Pahalgam in south Kashmir after assailants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists visiting Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A relative wails during the funeral procession of Adil Hussain Shah, a daily-wage worker, who died when militants indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of mainly tourists on Tuesday, at his village Hapatnar, about 20 km (13 miles) from Pahalgam where the incident took place, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A relative wails during the funeral procession of Adil Hussain Shah, a daily-wage worker, who died when militants indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of mainly tourists on Tuesday, at his village Hapatnar, about 20 km (13 miles) from Pahalgam where the incident took place, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants indiscriminately opened fired at tourists on Tuesday, Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants indiscriminately opened fired at tourists on Tuesday, Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Security personnel patrol a street the morning after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Security personnel patrol a street the morning after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

FILE- Pakistan Rangers' soldiers face Indian Border Security Force soldiers at a daily closing ceremony on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill, File)

FILE- Pakistan Rangers' soldiers face Indian Border Security Force soldiers at a daily closing ceremony on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill, File)

A staffer waves to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the his family as they visit the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, April 23, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

A staffer waves to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the his family as they visit the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, April 23, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

Indian security officers patrol a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian security officers patrol a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

An Indian security officer patrols a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

An Indian security officer patrols a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

President Donald Trump on Thursday visits a U.S. base installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East as he uses his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.

In other parts of the Middle East violence flared in the West Bank and Gaza, A hospital in southern Gaza says 54 people have been killed in overnight airstrikes on the city of Khan Younis.

with a pregnant Israeli woman killed even as the international rights group ,Human Rights Watch ,said that Israel’s plan to seize Gaza, remain in the territory and displace hundreds of thousands of people “inches closer to extermination.”

Trump plans to address troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, which was a major staging ground during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supported the recent U.S. air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. The president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program.

The President also meets business leaders in Qatar and heads to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

A hospital in southern Gaza says 54 people have been killed in overnight airstrikes on the city of Khan Younis.

An Associated Press cameraman in Khan Younis counted 10 airstrikes on the city overnight into Thursday, and saw numerous bodies taken to the morgue in the city’s Nasser Hospital. Some bodies arrived in pieces, with some body bags containing the remains of multiple people. The hospital’s morgue confirmed 54 people had been killed.

It was the second night of heavy bombing, after airstrikes Wednesday on northern and southern Gaza killed at least 70 people, including almost two dozen children.

The strikes come as U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East, visiting Gulf states but not Israel. There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.

Qatar’s satellite news channel Al Jazeera long has been a powerful force in the Middle East, often taking editorial positions at odds with America’s interests in the region during the wars that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by al-Qaida.

But during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf Arab nation this week, state-funded Al Jazeera muted its typical critiques of American foreign policy.

The channel, which broadcasts in Arabic and English, broadly covered Trump’s visit in a straightforward manner, highlighting it was the first-ever trip to Qatar by a sitting American leader. Mentions of the Israel-Hamas war, which Al Jazeera often has criticized America over for its military support to Israel, did not include any critiques of U.S. policy. Instead, journalists highlighted Qatar’s role as a mediator in the war and aired comments by Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, calling for a ceasefire.

After a morning meeting with top U.S. and Qatari officials and American defense and aerospace business leaders, Trump heads to Al-Udeid Air Base, a U.S. installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East. There, he will address troops and is expected to view a demonstration of American air capability.

The president then travels to the United Arab Emirates, the final leg of his first major foreign trip. He will head first to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and then to a state visit hosted at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr al-Watan palace.

The international rights group said that Israel’s plan to seize Gaza, remain in the territory and displace hundreds of thousands of people “inches closer to extermination.”

It called on the international community to speak out against the plan. It said that the new plans, coupled with the “systematic destruction” of civilian infrastructure and the block on all imports into Gaza, were cause for signatories to the Genocide Convention to act to prevent Israel’s moves. It said states should halt weapons transfers to Israel and enforce international arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister, as well as review their bilateral agreements with the country.

Israel vehemently denies accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.

The group also called on Hamas to free the 58 hostages it still holds in Gaza, 23 of whom are believed to be alive.

A pregnant Israeli woman has died after she was shot and critically wounded in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank, a hospital said Thursday.

Beilinson Hospital said that doctors succeeded in saving her unborn baby, who was in serious but stable condition after being delivered by caesarean section.

The Israeli military said a Palestinian assailant opened fire on a vehicle late Wednesday, wounded two civilians. Soldiers launched a search for the attacker.

It’s the latest violence in the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli military has launched a major operation that it says is meant to crack down on militancy. The operation has displaced tens of thousands of people.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in months of violence that surged there after the start of the war in Gaza.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomes President Donald Trump during an official welcoming ceremony at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomes President Donald Trump during an official welcoming ceremony at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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