At least eight Hindu pilgrims killed, 33 injured in Jammu and Kashmir bus attack

June 10 (UPI) -- Armed militants over the weekend opened fire on a bus transporting Hindu pilgrims in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, killing at least eight people and injuring nearly three dozen others, officials and authorities said.

The incident happened at about 6:10 p.m. local time Sunday in the Reasi district of the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir, which both India and Pakistan lay claims to and control a portion of.

Reasi police said the bus was transporting the Hindu pilgrims from the famous Shiv Khori cave shrines to Katra when the vehicle came under fire.

"The driver was hit and lost control, resulting in the bus sliding into the nearby gorge," Distric Police Reasi said in a statement.

All passengers were evacuated from the vehicle by 8:10 p.m. with the injured transported to local hospitals.

According to police, eight deaths have so far been confirmed and another 33 injured. Police had earlier said that nine were "feared dead."

The Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the attack, India Today reported, citing a statement from the Pakistan-based militant organization.

TRF is a proxy group for Lashkar-E-Taiba, a Pakistani terrorist organization based in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region. It has been designated by India as a terrorist organization.

TRF warned in its statement that more attacks on tourists and locals would be conducted, calling Sunday's assault the "beginning of a renewed start."

Lt. Gov. Manoj Sinha of Jammu and Kashmir has issued a statement saying local security forces have launched an operation "to hunt down the terrorists."

"I strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack on a bus in Reasi," he said.

"My condolences to the family members of the martyred civilians."

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India has taken "stock of the situation."

"All those behind this heinous act will be punished soon," he vowed.

He later said he visited injured pilgrims in the hospital.

India and Pakistan have feuded over Jammu and Kashmir since Britain's withdrawal in 1947, with their first war over the region ending with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire in 1949.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of harboring militants who have committed terrorists attacks in the region, and there were a number of skirmishes between the two countries over the military Line of Control in 2019.

The recent attack comes days after Modi's Hindu nationalist party declared victory in national elections.