Disputed Kashmir witnesses deadliest attack on civilians in years, sparking fears of rising tensions

NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 26 people were killed and 17 others wounded after gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region that has seen an anti-India rebellion for more than three decades.

Tuesday’s attack took place in the picturesque town of Pahalgam in the Himalayan mountains, popular with Indian visitors.

Police accused rebels of masterminding the attack, which sparked outrage and drew international condemnation, including from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Pahalgam is in the Baisaran meadow, locally known as “mini Switzerland” and is accessible only on foot or horseback. The town is a major tourist destination because of its alpine meadows, pine forests, snow-clad slopes and trekking routes.

It also lies on a major annual Hindu pilgrimage route, the Amarnath Yatra, and serves as one of its largest base camps, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. This year’s pilgrimage starts on July 3 and ends on August 9.

The attack on Tuesday hasn't been claimed by any group so far, and on Wednesday, Indian soldiers were still searching for the attackers.

Many fear the tourism industry, which employs thousands of people, will be negatively affected.

This also comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is soon expected to inaugurate a multibillion-dollar railway line to Kashmir Valley, which his government says will help tourism and economic development in the region.

Modi has decried the “heinous act” and pledged the militants“will be brought to justice."

India’s powerful home minister, Amit Shah, visited the attack site on Wednesday.

India and Pakistan have each laid claim to Kashmir since war broke out following the British partition of the subcontinent in 1947. Border skirmishes have long created instability in the region.

The two arch rivals have also fought three wars over Kashmir, where armed insurgents have resisted Indian rule for decades, with many Muslim Kashmiris supporting the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India has accused Pakistan of fomenting violence in the Muslim-majority region. Islamabad 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.

In 2019, Modi's government revoked Kashmir’s semiautonomous status and imposed sweeping security measures. Since then, his government has kept order in the region with a huge security presence and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms.

Militants had attacked civilians before, but the last major attack was in 2000. And though the region has seen a spate of targeted killings in remote mountains in recent years, violence has largely declined in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion.

Indian tourism has flourished in Kashmir after the Modi government promoted visits to the region with the hope of showing rising tourism numbers as a sign of renewed stability there, albeit under heavy security presence, checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers.

Millions of visitors now arrive in Kashmir every year to see its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats, as the fighting between government forces and rebels has largely shifted to the region of Jammu’s remote areas, where Indian troops have faced deadly attacks.

Tuesday's attack came as U.S. vice-president JD Vance was on a sightseeing trip to the Indian city of Jaipur on Tuesday, a day after meeting with Modi in New Delhi.

Vance condemned the killings, saying: “Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack.”

He will be in the Indian city of Agra on Wednesday to visit the iconic Taj Mahal monument, which is some 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away from the attack site.

Trump also denounced the attack and expressed solidarity “with India against terrorism” and called Modi to convey his sympathies, according to Indian authorities.

Other leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates also expressed condemnation.

Militants had previously planned attacks to coincide with high-profile visits.

One of the most notorious attacks was the killing of at least 35 civilians in a village in Kashmir shortly before a visit to India by then-President Bill Clinton.

FILE- A paramilitary soldier stands guard as cars drive past him during a Formula-4 race organized to boost adventure tourism in the region, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Indian Army soldiers patrol in armored vehicle near Pahalgam in south Kashmir after assailants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists visiting Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A relative wails during the funeral procession of Adil Hussain Shah, a daily-wage worker, who died when militants indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of mainly tourists on Tuesday, at his village Hapatnar, about 20 km (13 miles) from Pahalgam where the incident took place, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian security officers inspect the site in Pahalgam where militants indiscriminately opened fired at tourists on Tuesday, Pahalgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Security personnel patrol a street the morning after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

FILE- Pakistan Rangers' soldiers face Indian Border Security Force soldiers at a daily closing ceremony on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill, File)

A staffer waves to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the his family as they visit the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, April 23, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

Indian security officers patrol a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

An Indian security officer patrols a shopping area in Pahalgam a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near the town, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)