BREAKING NEWS Dozens killed as gunmen attack tourists in Kashmir
Dozens of people have been killed after gunmen launched a deadly attack in India.
Gunmen in Kashmir opened fire on a group of tourists on Tuesday, with the chief minister saying the 'inhuman' attack was one of the worst targeting civilians for years.
At least 24 people were killed, Indian police have said.
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 being ascertained'.
'This attack on our visitors is an abomination,' he said in a statement. 'The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.'
The attack took place in the popular summer retreat of Pahalgam, about 55 miles by road from the key city of Srinagar.
The region's governor Manoj Sinha - New Delhi's representative in the area - condemned 'the cowardly terror attack on tourists'.
'I assure the people that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished,' he said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.
They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan - which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.
India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, but fighting decreased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy in 2019.
Since then, the authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months, and to escape the sweltering heat during the summer elsewhere in India.
Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, according to official figures, the majority domestic visitors.
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 de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
'These cowardly terrorists have targeted unarmed innocent tourists who had come to visit Kashmir,' Ravinder Raina, from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told Indian broadcasters.
'Some tourists have been admitted to the local hospital in an injured condition'.
India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.
Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir's struggle for self-determination.
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