SRINAGAR, India — Gunmen shot and killed at least 26 tourists Tuesday at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said in what appeared to be a major shift in a regional conflict in which tourists have largely been spared.

Police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for the attack in Baisaran meadow, some 5 kilometers from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam. At least three dozen people were wounded, many of them seriously, according to two senior police officers.

“This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” Omar Abdullah, the region’s top elected official, wrote on social media.

The two officers said at least four militants fired at dozens of tourists from close range. Most of the killed tourists were Indian, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy.

At at least 24 bodies were collected in the aftermath of the attack and two people died while being taken for medical treatment. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cutting short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returning to New Delhi early Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack and stressed that “attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.