Srinagar, India: alleged activists opened fire in the Indian cashmere region on Tuesday (April 22), killing at least five tourists and injuring eight other people, a police source told Reuters, in the worst attack of this type of territory in almost a year.
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular destination in the picturesque territory with a Muslim majority which has attracted thousands of summer visitors while militant violence has been detained in recent years.
The injured were sent to a local hospital, said the source on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
“The number of deaths is still being verified, so I do not want to go into these details,” published the chief minister of Jammu-et-Cachemire, Omar Abdullah, posted on X. “Needless to say, this attack is much greater than anything we have seen against civilians in recent years.”
A little -known militant group called “resistance to cashmere” claimed the responsibility of the attack in a message on social networks. He expressed dissatisfaction that more than 85,000 “foreigners” had been installed in the region, stimulating a “demographic change”.
“Consequently, violence will be directed to those who try to settle illegally,” he said.
Reuters could not independently check the source of the message.
The local government of Jammu-et-Cachemire, where Pahalgam is, said this month in the Legislative Assembly that nearly 84,000 non-local, from India, had received rights of domicile in the territory over the past two years.
“Those behind this odious act will be brought to justice … they will not be spared!” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. “Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our determination to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will become even stronger.”
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The Himalayan region, affirmed in whole but partly governed by India and Pakistan, has been turned up by militant violence since the start of an anti-Indian insurrection in 1989. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, although violence has decreased in recent years.
India revoked the special status of cashmere in 2019, dividing the State into two territories administered by the federal government – Jammu and Cashmire and Ladakh. This decision also enabled local authorities to issue foreigners home rights, which allows them to obtain jobs and buy land on the territory.
This has led to a deterioration of links with Pakistan, which also claims the region. The dispute was the source of bitter animosity and military conflict between nuclear weapons neighbors.
The attacks targeting tourists in cashmere have been rare in recent years. The last major attack on visitors took place in June, when at least nine people were killed and 33 injured after a militant attack caused a bus transporting Hindu pilgrims to dive into a deep throat.
Certain major militant attacks at the height of the insurrection have coincided with the visits of senior foreign officials to India, in probable attempts to attract world attention to cashmere, Indian security agencies said.
Tuesday's attack came a day after US vice-president JD Vance started a four-dayLargely personal visit to India.
