SRINAGAR, India, April 23, (AP): Security has been beefed up across Indian-controlled Kashmir a day after an attack killed at least 26 people, most of them tourists, as Indian forces launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of one of the deadliest attacks in the restive Himalayan region. As investigators began probing the attack, many shops and businesses in Kashmir closed to protest the killings following a call from the region’s religious and political parties.

Tens of thousands of armed police and soldiers fanned out across the region and erected additional checkpoints. They searched cars and in some areas summoned former militants to police stations for questioning, reports said. Police called it a "terror attack” and blamed militants fighting against Indian rule. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Global condemnation for Tuesday’s rare attack on the tourists came swiftly, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi early Wednesday. Officials said 24 of the people killed were Indian tourists, one was from Nepal and one was a local tourist guide. At least 17 others were injured.

Kashmir has seen a spate of deadly attacks on Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, since New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms. New Delhi has vigorously pushed tourism and claimed it as a sign of normalcy returning, and the region has drawn millions of visitors who enjoy its Himalyan foothills and exquisitely decorate houseboats amid a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers. Until Tuesday, tourists were not targeted.

Following the attack, panicked tourists started to leave Kashmir. Monojit Debnath, a tourist from Indian city of Kolkata, said Kashmir was undoubtedly beautiful but his family did not feel secure anymore. "We are tourists, and we should think about what safety we have here for us,” Debnath told the Press Trust of India news agency as he was leaving Srinagar, the region’s main city, with his family. On Wednesday, India’s powerful home minister Amit Shah attended a ceremony at a police control room in Srinagar, where the slain tourists were paid floral tributes. He also met families of several victims. Shah vowed to "come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences.”