Indian-controlled Kashmir has been the scene of many violent attacks in past decades

NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 26 people were killed Tuesday and more than a dozen injured after gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

It was the worst assault targeting civilians in years, but the restive region has been the scene of much violence in the past. The attack came as U.S. Vice President JD Vance was in India, which evoked memories of an even deadlier attack in 2000 shortly before a visit to India by then-President Bill Clinton.

Police called Tuesday’s incident in Pahalgam, in the Jammu-Kashmir territory, a “terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Here is a look at other major incidents over the past 25 years in the Indian-controlled area of Kashmir, where militants have been fighting against New Delhi’s rule for decades:

March 20, 2000: Hours before Clinton arrived in India, gunmen shot and killed 36 people from the Sikh community in the village of Chittisinghpora. The identity of the attackers remains a matter of dispute.

Indian-controlled Kashmir has been the scene of many violent attacks in past decades | iNFOnews.ca
Indian people burn tiers and shout slogans against Pakistan during protest against the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu, India, Wednesday, April 23, 2025.(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

August 2000: Suspected militants killed at least 32 people in what was the biggest militant attack on Hindus taking part in the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage. Attacks on the pilgrimage of a similar nature were reported in 2001, 2002 and 2017.

October 1, 2001: A suicide bomber attacked the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Complex in Srinagar, killing at least 36 people.

May 14, 2002: As U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B. Rocca was visiting India, three militants hurled grenades from a bus at an army station in Kaluchak, Jammu-Kashmir. They then opened fire on other passengers on the bus and entered the military station. They shot security personnel, as well as women and children living in the residential complex, killing a total of 36 people before they were killed themselves.

March 23, 2003: Suspected militants killed at least 24 Kashmiri minority Hindus at Nadimarg village in Kashmir.

September 18, 2016: Militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group attacked an Indian army brigade headquarters near the garrison town of Uri, Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers.

Indian-controlled Kashmir has been the scene of many violent attacks in past decades | iNFOnews.ca
Security personnel guard outside Pakistan High Commission a day after militants indiscriminately opened fire on tourists near Pahalgam in Indian controlled Kashmir, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

February 14, 2019: A Jaish-e-Mohammad militant rammed a car bomb into a bus convoy of paramilitary forces in Pulwama, Jammu-Kashmir, killing 40 security personnel.

June 9, 2024: At least nine civilians were killed and dozens injured after suspected militants opened fire on a bus carrying Hindu devotees to a holy shrine of a deity in Jammu.

Indian-controlled Kashmir has been the scene of many violent attacks in past decades | iNFOnews.ca
Men carry placards saying ‘Innocent Killing Unacceptable. We Stand with Victims’ 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)

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