Multiple casualties feared after ‘terror attack’ at Kashmir tourist hotspot, Indian police say

Multiple casualties are feared after assailants indiscriminately fired at tourists visiting a beauty spot in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.

Police said it was a “terror attack” carried out by militants fighting against Indian rule near the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam.

Initial reports said gunmen sprayed bullets at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow, some 3 miles from Pahalgam. Police said multiple tourists suffered gunshot wounds and officials were evacuating the wounded to hospitals.

Reinforcements of police and soldiers cordoned off the area and launched a hunt for the attackers.

No other details were immediately available.

The meadow in Pahalgam is a top sightseeing destination, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and dotted with dense pine forests. It is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan 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.