Srinagar, India – Indian police say that armed men have killed at least 20 tourists in a resort in India controlled back.
Two senior police officers said that at least four armed men, whom they described as militants, fired dozens of tourists from short distance on Tuesday. The officers said that at least three dozen others were injured, many in serious condition. They talked under anonymity according to departmental policy.
The authorities collected at least 20 bodies in Baisaran Meadow, about five kilometers (3 miles) from the tourist city of the disputed region, Pahalgam.
Police described the incident as a “terrorist attack” and blamed the militants fighting the Indian government. It seemed to be an important change in the regional conflict in which tourists have greatly saved.
“This attack is much larger than anything we have seen directed to civilians in recent years,” Omar AbdullahThe senior elected official of the region, wrote on social networks.
The police were looking for the attackers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Interior Minister of India, Amit Shah, was heading to Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir controlled by the Indians. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official visit in Saudi Arabia, has been informed.
“We are going to go down strongly on the perpetrators with the toughest consequences,” Shah wrote on social networks.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key back of Kashmir resistance, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack against tourists”, writing in the media of Socila that “such violence is unacceptable and against the spirit of Kashmir that receives visitors with love and warmth.”
The attack coincided with the visit to India of United States Vice President JD Vancethat is in a personal part four days arrest. “In recent days, we have surpassed the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them while crying this horrible attack,” Vance said on social networks.
The Prado in Pahalgam is a popular tourist destination, surrounded by snowy mountains and dotted with pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.
India and Pakistan nuclear weapons rivals manage part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory as a whole.
Kashmir has seen a Status of murders of Hindus, including immigrant workers of the Indian states, after New Delhi ended the semi -autonomy of the region In 2019 and drastically Disient of dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.
Tensions have been boiling as India has intensified its counterinsurgency operations.
The region, known for the spring of the Himalayas, the exquisitely decorated houses and the pristine prists have become an important national tourist destination. Kashmira has drawn Millions of visitors Those who enjoy a strange peace maintained by the omnipresent security control points, armored vehicles and patrol soldiers.
Although violence has decreased in recent times in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of the Anti-Indian rebellion, the struggle between government forces and rebels has largely changed to remote areas of the Jammu region, including Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua, where Indian troops have faced dead attacks.
The militants in the portion of Kashmira controlled by India have been fighting against the New Delhi government since 1989. Many Muslim puppys support the objective of the rebels to unite the territory, either under the Pakistani government or as an independent country.
India insists that Kashmir militancy is terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. Pakistan denies the position, and many Cunemiris consider him a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
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Associated Press Sheikh Saaliq writer in New Delhi contributed to this report.
