At least 26 people were killed and 17 others wounded when gunmen opened fire on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the worst assault in years targeting civilians in a restive region that has seen an anti-India rebellion for more than three decades.

India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but control it only in parts. Since India's partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought wars over the territory.

A day after suspected militants killed 26 men at a tourist destination in Kashmir in the worst attack on civilians in the country in nearly two decades, Indian Foreign Secretary V