SRINAGAR, India, April 22, 2025 (BSs/AFP) - Gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir opened fire on a group of tourists on Tuesday, with the chief minister saying the "inhuman" attack was one of the worst targeting civilians for years.

At least five people were killed, a senior politician in the Himalayan region said.

"I strongly condemn the cowardly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, which tragically killed five and injured several," said Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of the region, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.

They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan -- which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that "the attack is much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians in recent years", with the death toll "still being ascertained".

"This attack on our visitors is an abomination," he said in a statement. "The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt."

The region's governor Manoj Sinha -- New Delhi's representative in the area -- condemned "the cowardly terror attack on tourists".

"I assure the people that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished," he said.

The attack took place in the popular summer retreat of Pahalgam, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar.

- India promoting Kashmir tourism –

India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, but fighting decreased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy in 2019.

Since then, the authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months, and to escape the sweltering heat during the summer elsewhere in India.

Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, according to official figures, the majority domestic visitors.

In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call "normalcy and peace" were returning after a massive crackdown.

A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

"These cowardly terrorists have targeted unarmed innocent tourists who had come to visit Kashmir," Ravinder Raina, from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told Indian broadcasters.

"Some tourists have been admitted to the local hospital in an injured condition".

India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.

Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir's struggle for self-determination.