At least 26 people are feared dead after a terrorist group opened fire on a group of tourists at a popular mountain spot near Pahalgam, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of the worst terrorist attacks in the troubled region.
The attack occurred at 2:20 pm local time. Unidentified gunmen, reportedly dressed in fatigues, opened fire randomly at the numerous tourists who spent the afternoon at Baisaran meadow, a popular outdoor spot five kilometers outside Pahalgam that is only reachable on foot or horseback.
“As gunshots rang out, there was panic, and tourists ran for cover, but there was no place to hide in the wide, open space,” eyewitnesses told the Times of India.
Pahalgam and its surroundings, at the base of the Indian Himalaya, is known to locals as Little Switzerland.
At the time of posting this story, no arrests have been made. The Resistance Front, a local offshoot of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack. Most of the casualties are Indian locals, except for two foreigners, whose nationalities have not yet been made public.
