Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cut short a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi after an attack in the disputed Kashmir region killed at least 26 people, most of them tourists. Security has been beefed up across Kashmir, and Indian forces have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of one of the deadliest attacks to hit the restive Himalayan region in recent memory. Tens of thousands of armed police and soldiers have fanned out across the region and erected additional checkpoints, searching cars and reportedly summoning former militants for questioning. Police have called the massacre a "terror attack" and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, but there has been no immediate claim of responsibility. Officials said 24 of the people killed were Indian tourists, while one was from Nepal and one a local tourist guide. At least 17 others were injured. In a post on X, Modi said the perpetrators "will not be spared". "I strongly condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir," he wrote. "Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected." On Wednesday, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah attended a ceremony at a police control room in Srinagar, joining tributes to the slain tourists and meeting the families of several victims. Shah vowed to "come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences". Later, Shah visited the site of the killing, a meadow some 5km from the resort town of Pahalgam. Often likened to Switzerland because of its snow-capped mountains and pine forests, the area is visited by hundreds of tourists every day. Meanwhile, security officials intensified search operations to hunt the attackers and the Indian army said in a statement that its efforts "focused on bringing the attackers to justice." The military used helicopters to search the mountainous, forested area for any sign of the attackers. The incident coincides with a visit to India by US Vice President JD Vance, with whom Modi's government is desperately trying to negotiate a deal that will ease punishing tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Vance warned this week that if India and the US fail to work together, "the 21st Century could be a very dark time for all of humanity". India and Pakistan each administer different parts 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, and many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, whether under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. The Indian government views militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism, a claim that Pakistan denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict. Human rights groups say India has used excessively brutal tactics to keep control over the region, allegedly giving its armed forces broad powers to arrest, torture and summarily execute suspects. Recent years have seen violence ebbing in the Kashmir Valley, historically the heart of anti-India rebellion, with fighting between government forces and rebels shifting to remote areas of the Jammu region. In 2019, months before New Delhi revoked the region's autonomy, a car bomb attack by militants in southern Pulwama district killed at least 40 paramilitary troops and wounded dozens more. Kashmir has seen a spate of deadly attacks on Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, since New Delhi unilaterally ended the region's semi-autonomous status in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms. New Delhi has vigorously promoted tourism in Kashmir as an indicator of peace and stability, and the region has duly drawn millions of visitors to enjoy its Himalayan foothills and exquisitely decorated houseboats — this amid a strange order kept by security checkpoints, armored vehicles and ubiquitous patrolling soldiers. Until Tuesday, tourists had not fallen prey to violence. — Euronews
