Pakistan concerned over loss of tourists’ lives as 26 killed in India-held Kashmir attack, says FO
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 a day ago.
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in the scenic Muslim-majority territory that draws thousands of visitors every summer, as gunmen violence has reduced in recent years.
At least 26 people were killed, security sources told AFP, in the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000. The dead included a navy officer and foreign tourists, The Hindu reported.
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.
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 come 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.
Some of the victims were from distant regions of India, which included Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
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 Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir.
The brazen attack in the highly protected zone has raised eyebrows across the region.
A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
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.
Eyewitness accounts
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 security source said that foreign tourists were among those shot, but there was no official confirmation.
Other security sources and some Indian media reported late on Tuesday that 26 people had died, an increase from the 24 that a senior local police officer had earlier told AFP.
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 rains and thunderstorms.
Vance offered condolences in a social media post, while US President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Modi also cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia over the attack, the foreign ministry said.
In New York, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “strongly condemns” the attack.
Men targeted
“The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” said the witness who asked not to be identified.
“They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes 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.
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.”
Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged: “Europe will stand with you.”
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.
More to follow