Pakistan is alarmed by the deaths of visitors in India-occupied Kashmir.

An incident in the Pahalgam region of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that left 26 persons dead and 17 injured has alarmed Pakistan.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Foreign Office spokeswoman Shafqat Ali Khan said that Pakistan was “saddened by the incident and expressed sympathy with the families of the deceased.”

“We wish the injured a speedy recovery and offer our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased,” he said.

“We are concerned about the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in the Anantnag district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” the spokesperson continued.

Suspected militants opened fire on visitors in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state on Wednesday, killing 26 people and wounding 17, according to authorities, marking the bloodiest incident the nation has seen in almost 20 years.

The attack happened Tuesday in Pahalgam, a well-known tourist destination in the picturesque Muslim-majority region that has experienced a rise in mass travel in recent years as insurgent activity has decreased.

According to officials, 25 Indians and one Nepalese national were among the dead of the incident, which took place in an off-road meadow.

Since the 2008 Mumbai shootings, which claimed over 160 lives, it was India’s bloodiest attack on civilians.

In protest of the assault on visitors, whose growing numbers have boosted the local economy, more than a dozen local organizations demanded a closure in the federal territory on Wednesday.

In protest, many schools likewise called off classes for the day.

According to officials, airlines were running additional flights from Srinagar, the territory’s summer capital, as tourists were fleeing the area in droves.