The friend of Kaustubh Ganbote, one of the men killed in the attack, has spoken to the Press Trust of India.

Sunil More, a close friend and neighbour, said Ganbote spent most of his life working to expanding his snacks business and rarely took time away from work.

"This was the first time he and his wife had decided to travel outside the city. They planned the trip with his close friend Santosh and his family. Only eight days ago he had told me about the Kashmir plan. He was really excited."

Ganbote had also recently become a grandfather, More said.

Image source, Getty Images

Tourism is a vital source of revenue for Indian-administered Kashmir.

Domestic tourism, particularly, has been a vital lifeblood for the region, which has stunning mountains, valleys and picturesque views.

Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, according to official figures. Arrivals have been growing steadily over the last few years.

Yesterday's attack happened during peak spring season and in a part of Pahalgam that is on most tourist itineraries. It is home to one of two routes to the popular Amarnath cave and the Baisaran pine forest that is popular for trekking.

In the hours following the attack, the streets of the popular tourist town were deserted, with many tourists opting to leave Kashmir, cutting short their trips. Tour operators have told local media that many upcoming trips to the region have also been cancelled.

Akib Chaya, a hotel owner in Pahalgam, told the BBC's Newshour programme that tourists had been coming to the region safely for three or four decades.

"They have killed our fellow countrymen. They have killed our hospitality. We are famous in the world for hospitality, they have also killed that," he told the BBC.

Chaya also expressed his anger at the gunmen disrupting the peace process in Kashmir, calling them "bloody animals" and urging the government to offer "some kind of retaliation".

Pakistan’s foreign ministry initially responded to the attack by extending condolences to the families of those killed.

In a statement, the ministry said, “We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in Anantnag district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery."

But in an appearance on local television late on Wednesday, following several measures taken by India including the closure of its main border with Pakistan and the suspension of a historic water sharing agreement, the country's Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, struck a different tone.

Dar called India's response to Pakistan "immature" and "hasty", saying, “India has not given any evidence. They have not shown any maturity in their response,” and that the response was "non-serious".

" They started creating hype immediately after the incident," he said on the programme, according to local media.

Pakistan's National Security Committee will meet on Thursday morning to determine a response to the Indian government's measures targeting Pakistan, which include closing the main border crossing, suspending a water-sharing treaty, and expelling diplomats, the country's Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, wrote, external on X.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

In recent years, the Indian government has consistently highlighted a significant decline in violence in Jammu and Kashmir, attributing this to its security and policy measures.​

In January last year, Federal Home Minister Amit Shah noted a 66% decline in terrorist incidents and an 81% drop in civilian killings in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Data presented to a parliamentary panel by the Ministry of Home Affairs late last year indicated that terror-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir fell from 286 in 2019 to significantly lower numbers in subsequent years, with only five attacks on security forces reported till November 2024.

But Tuesday’s attack in Pahalgam reveals how fragile and elusive peace remains and points to a massive intelligence and security failure, experts say.

In response to Monday's deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, India said it would suspend the Indus Water Treaty - which has been in place since 1960 and survived decades of hostile incidents between the two countries.

The treaty governs water sharing of the water supply from the Indus river and its distributaries. Under the agreement, India has control over the eastern rivers, and Pakistan the western ones. It also allows each country certain uses of the rivers allocated to the other,

The agreement also stipulates that India must, with few exceptions, allow water from the western rivers to flow downstream into Pakistan.

The suspension of the agreement is likely to impact millions of Pakistanis who depend on the treaty for their water supply and livelihoods.

Image source, Reuters

How India might respond to the attackpublished at 03:15 British Summer Time

03:15 BST

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Given the fraught history of Kashmir - claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but ruled by each only in part - India's response is likely to be shaped as much by precedent as by pressure, say experts.

For starters, Delhi has swiftly taken a series of retaliatory steps: closing the main border crossing, suspending a critical water-sharing treaty, and expelling diplomats.

More significantly, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has vowed a "strong response,", external pledging action not just against the perpetrators but also the masterminds behind the "nefarious acts" on Indian soil.

The question, analysts say, is not whether there will be a military response - but when, and how calibrated it will be, and at what cost.

Read the BBC's analysis on the risks of military escalation after the attack here.

Image source, Reuters

Welcome back to our live coverage of developments following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 people were killed after gunmen opened fire on tourists at a resort in Pahalgam.

India has announced measures targeting Pakistan which include the closure of the main border crossing linking the two countries, the suspension of a water-sharing treaty and the expulsion of diplomats.

Some Pakistanis have also had their visas cancelled and have been ordered to leave the country within two days.

India is demanding that Pakistan ends its "support for cross-border terrorism" - something Islamabad denies.

Pakistani officials will meet on Thursday to discuss a response.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest news.

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of the attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people. We're pausing this live page, but you can head here to read all that happened.

This page was edited by Geeta Pandey in London and produced by Zoya Mateen and Sharanya Hrishikesh in Delhi, with contributions from Soutik Biswas, Ayeshea Perera, Aparna Alluri, Joel Guinto, James Chater, Meryl Sebastian, Cherylann Mollan, Nikita Yadav, Neyaz Farooquee, Shafat Farooq, Yogita Limaye, Nikhil Inamdar, Riyaz Masroor, Majid Jahangir, Ashok Dahal, Azadeh Moshiri, Anbarasan Ethirajan Pinaki Chakraborty, Vikas Pandey, Anahita Sachdev, Antriksha Pathania and Simon Fraser.

Large numbers of people came out across Srinagar city on Wednesday evening to hold candle-light vigils for those killed in Pahalgam.

Image source, Ubaid Mukhtar

Image source, Ubaid Mukhtar

Image source, Ubaid Mukhtar

Image source, Getty Images

Attacks on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir are rare but not unheard of. The Pahalgam attack, however, is the biggest in recent years, with 26 tourists killed.

The main target of militants during the decades-long separatist insurgency in the region has been Indian security forces, but civilians, including local populations, have often been caught up in the attacks.

In 2001, a suicide attack on Kashmir’s assembly complex killed 36, a blast in 2002 killed 19 and a car explosion in 2005 killed 13.

Militants have also often targeted Hindu pilgrims visiting the Amarnath caves for the annual pilgrimage, killing dozens. In one of the major attacks in August 2000, at least 32 people, including several pilgrims and locals, were killed.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called an all-party meeting in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday afternoon.

In a letter inviting leaders of parties in the state, Abdullah wrote that the attack "is not merely a tragedy for a region or a party - it is a wound upon the very soul of Jammu and Kashmir".

"I believe it is out collective duty - as representatives of the people and as custodians of democratic values - to come together irrespective of our political affiliations and stand united in our response."

The meeting, Abdullah wrote, will help "as we shape a common voice that reflects the strength and solidarity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir".

Image source, Getty Images

India’s national broadcaster is reporting that Prime Minister Modi is chairing a meeting of the cabinet committee on security to discuss the Pahalgam attack.

The participants include Modi's top ministerial colleagues and India’s national security adviser.

The meeting is under way at the prime minister’s residence. Further details are awaited.

Nikhil Inamdar
BBC News

Several Indian celebrities have taken to social media to express anguish at Tuesday's attack.

“Words fail to express the sadness and anger at the treachery and inhumane act of violence that has occurred in Pahalgam. In times like these, one can only turn to God and say a prayer for the families that suffered and express my deepest condolences,” Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan wrote on X.

Many other actors like Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and Akshay Kumar also condemned the killings on their Instagram accounts.

“Every time something like this happens, it chips away at our shared humanity,” wrote Bhatt

Many current and former Indian cricketers like Shubhman Gill, Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar also shared their condolences and expressed shock at the tragedy.

“The affected families must be going through an unimaginable ordeal – India and the world stand united with them at this dark hour as we mourn the loss of lives and pray for justice,” Tendulkar wrote on X.

Deepali Jagtap and Vinayak Hogade
BBC Marathi

Image source, BBC Marathi

Three cousins from the western state of Maharashtra are among those killed in the Pahalgam attack.

Atul Mone, Sanjay Lele and Hemant Joshi had gone to Kashmir on holiday with six other family members.

Lele was an employee at a pharmaceutical company. His cousin Kaushik Lele says the family received the news of his death last night.

“We are in shock,” he says.

Mone, 43, worked as a senior section engineer in the Indian Railways and was in Kashmir with his wife and 18-year-old daughter.

“He was like a brother to me,” says his friend Mahesh Surse, who lived in the same building as Mone and had been friends with him for 25 years.

Surse had also planned a trip to Kashmir with his family next month but has now cancelled his booking.

“We are deeply shocked. There’s fear in our hearts," Surse's wife Vanita says. "I feel that until the government ensures tourist safety, people shouldn’t go there at all.”

Anbarasan Ethirajan
South Asia editor, BBC World Service

Attacks on tourists are rare in Indian-administered Kashmir as it affects the tourism-dependent economy and angers locals.

So, this incident has come out of nowhere and even Kashmiris are wondering how this happened. The anti-India insurgency has waned in the past decade and elections were held amid tight security last year and millions of tourists visited the region.

“The militants seemed to be adopting a new strategy by infiltrating and launching attacks in areas which were relatively peaceful in the past 15 years,” retired Gen DS Hooda, who headed the Northern Command of the Indian army in Kashmir, told the BBC.

The attack will be seen as a setback for the Indian government that has been trying to project peace and development in the region after years of insurgency. Given the tight security, questions will be raised whether there was any intelligence failure or security lapse.

Image source, Getty Images

Opposition leaders in India have strongly reacted to the deadly attack and accused Prime Minister Modi's government of severe security lapses.

Senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi said the government must "take accountability" for the killings instead of “making hollow claims” about normalcy being restored in Indian-administered Kashmir.

His colleague and party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the killings were a “blot on humanity”.

MK Stalin, chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, condemned the attack, calling it a “barbaric act that shocks the conscience”.

Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister, said her government was taking all steps to bring back the bodies of the three victims from her state.

While we wait for more details on Tuesday's attack, security agencies have released the sketches of three of the gunmen suspected to be involved in the killings, news agency PTI reports.

Officials say they have identified the men as Asif Fauji, Suleman Shah and Abu Talha, who used code names Moosa, Yunus and Asif respectively.

They said the sketches were made based on the descriptions given by some of the survivors.

Image source, PTI

We've just heard from India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

He condemned the attack, calling it a "cowardly act", and said India had a "policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism".

He assured people that the government would take all the necessary steps to "reach the perpetrators of this act and also the actors behind the scenes".

"The accused will soon see a loud and clear response, I want to assure the country," he said.

Simon Fraser
Asia digital editor, London

Details of how the shootings unfolded are still emerging, but here is what we know so far from eyewitnesses and police sources.

• Four gunmen came out of forests at a popular tourist spot near the town of Pahalgam on Tuesday and raked crowds of visitors with automatic gunfire, killing at least 26 people.
• Baisaran meadow where the slaughter took place is accessible by foot or on horseback. Vehicles can’t drive all the way there from Pahalgam, about 5km (3 miles) away. So some of the injured had to be carried on horses initially to take them for medical treatment.
• Reports suggest the shooting went on for up to 20 or 30 minutes. All the attackers managed to escape before security forces arrived on the scene - a search operation has been launched to locate them. The Indian government has so far not blamed any group for carrying out the attack.
• The gunmen were clearly targeting men, eyewitnesses to the attack have been telling local media. Some eyewitnesses said the attackers deliberately targeted non-Muslims, but others said the shooting was random. At least one local Muslim trader died in the attack too.
• "They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes [with a] single shot and sometimes many bullets. It was like a storm," one woman told AFP news agency.
• Several videos that have gone viral show people running for their lives. One woman is seen screaming for help, pointing at her badly-injured husband. In the background, several bodies can be seen. In another video, locals can be seen rushing to help the victims.