We are hearing from the Indian Army, which says that it has foiled an infiltration bid by suspected militants in Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Two of the militants have been killed in an exchange of gunfire, it adds.

Baramulla is around 140km (87 miles) away from Pahalgam, the site of Tuesday’s attack.

The army said the infiltration bid took place close to the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir.

In a post on X, the army’s Chinar Corps – which operates in the Kashmir valley – said there had been a heavy exchange of fire between security forces and suspected militants in an ongoing operation in the region.

It also said that a “large quantity of weapons, ammunition and other war-like stores” had been recovered from them.

Global leaders have expressed condemnation for the attack on civilians in Pahalgam.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres offered his condolences to the victims’ families.

“Attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances,” he said.

US president Donald Trump said he had already spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the attack.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also expressed her sympathies and said that she was “deeply saddened” by the news.

“Italy expresses its closeness to the families affected, the injured, the Government and all the Indian people,” she wrote in a post on X.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the attack was “utterly devastating”.

UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the attack and said it permanently rejected “all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at undermining security and stability in contravention of international law”.

Riyaz Masroor
BBC Urdu

Businesses and educational institutions across Kashmir are shut in protest against the attack that killed more than 20 people on Tuesday. Public transport facilities have also been affected.

Meanwhile, investigations into the attack continue. A team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has reached Srinagar and more teams are expected to follow.

Many top security officials are also expected to visit Pahalgam.

The attack in Pahalgam took place during US Vice President JD Vance’s four-day visit to India with his family. On Monday, he had held talks with Prime Minister Modi and discussed the trade deal both countries are negotiating.

The vice-president was in the western city of Jaipur when the attacks occurred. He is scheduled to go to the northern city of Agra on Wednesday, where he may also visit the iconic Taj Mahal.

Vance and his wife Usha have extended their condolences to the victims of the attack in a post on X.

“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 wrote.

Territorial disputes over Kashmir – a Muslim-majority territory in the Himalayas – is at the heart of tensions between India and Pakistan.

Since India and Pakistan won independence from Britain in 1947, the neighbours have fought two wars over the region, which they both claim in full but only control in part.

Kashmir has been a flashpoint for violence. Discontent over Indian rule in the late 1980s and 1990s led to an insurgency, which Delhi accused Pakistan of helping to fund. Thousands were killed.

Indian-administered Kashmir long had a special position within the country, thanks to Article 370 – a clause in the constitution which gave it significant autonomy.

But in 2019, India’s ruling party revoked the region’s privileged status, and split the state into two federally administered territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The move led to a deterioration in relations between the two nuclear-armed states, with Pakistan downgrading ties with Delhi.

As a precaution, Indian authorities have tightened security in Delhi following yesterday’s attack in Pahalgam.

Strict security checks are being implemented, especially in tourist areas, according to the PTI news agency.

Checkpoints have also been set up in the Kashmir valley, officials say.

The death toll from a suspected militant attack in India’s Jammu and Kashmir territory has risen to 26, according to the Reuters news agency, citing local police.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, has cut short his trip and returned to India

Upon his arrival, Modi held a brief meeting at the airport to take stock of the situation with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials, state news outlet Doordarshan said.

The gunmen were clearly targeting men and sparing women, eyewitnesses to the attack have been telling local media.

“The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” one woman told the AFP news agency.

“They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes [with a] single shot and sometimes many bullets. It was like a storm,” she told the agency.

Another woman, identified as Pallavi Rao by the Indian Express newspaper, whose husband was among those shot dead, also said that men were being targeted.

Gunmen opened fire killing at least 24 tourists in Pahalgam, a picturesque Himalayan town, on Tuesday afternoon. Reports in local media suggest that there are a large number of wounded, with some in critical condition.

The attack took place in Baisaran, a mountain-top meadow three miles (5km) from Pahalgam.

Survivors have been recounting the horrific moments after they stepped off a tourist bus – one woman, who claimed the attackers targeted men, said her husband died from a single shot to the head, according to the Indian Express newspaper.

Another spoke of the chaos as people began screaming and running after the first gunshots.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Although Kashmir has long been the site of an armed insurgency against Indian rule, attacks on tourists have been rare.

The region’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, said Tuesday’s attack was “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”.

At least 24 people have died after gunmen attacked tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. This is the latest:

• The attack took place in Pahalgam, a picturesque town in the Himalayas, with eyewitnesses saying that gunmen were targeting tourists
• Many of those injured are believed to be in critical condition with fears that the death toll is likely to rise
• No group has claimed responsibility for the attack which has been widely condemned both domestically and internationally
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short an official trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi following news of the attack
• Several protests have been organised for Wednesday as India reacts with shock and anger

Stay with us as we bring you more of the latest updates.