“At least 24 people have been killed,” the senior police officer in Kashmir told AFP on condition of anonymity, with the toll not yet announced officially.

Police described the shooting near the resort town of Pahalgam on Tuesday as a "terror attack" and blamed it on militants fighting Indian rule.

Omar Abdullah, the region s main elected official, said: "This attack is much larger than anything we ve seen directed at civilians in recent years.

"The death toll is still being ascertained."

Earlier, a police source told Reuters at least five people were feared killed, with eight injured.

Officers said multiple tourists had suffered gunshot wounds and been taken to hospital.

A manhunt for the attackers has been launched.

Initial reports said gunmen fired bullets at mostly Indian tourists visiting Baisaran meadow, about three miles (5km) from Pahalgam.

Hundreds of tourists flock to the site - a top sightseeing destination surrounded by snow-capped mountains - every day.

Amit Shah, India s home affairs minister, said he was "anguished by the terror attack".

He added on X: "Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences."

Mr Shah said he had briefed prime minister Narendra Modi and was heading to Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, for an "urgent security meeting with all the agencies".

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key Kashmiri resistance leader, condemned what he described as a "cowardly attack on tourists".

He said on X: "Such violence is unacceptable and against the ethos of Kashmir which welcomes visitors with love and warmth. Condemn it strongly."