Indian Karnal - When Aishanya and Shubham Dwivedi got married in February, they began planning a vacation to India-controlled Kashmir to celebrate.

A man approached from behind as the couple stopped on the lush Pahargam meadow and surrounded by snowy Himalayas peaks. Aishanya told the Associated Press that he did not appear to be threatening at first. She thought he might be a local guide.

She said the man looked at the couple with dazzling eyes and asked a question: "Are you Hindus or Muslim?" He said that if they were Muslims, they should recite the Islamic Declaration of Faith.

The couple freezes. Aishanya thinks it might be a local show. “We are Hindus,” her husband said.

Aishanya, 29, took out the gun without hesitation and shot him as "blank on his head", said Aishanya, 29, crying. Her husband fell on her and soaked her.

The man turned the gun to her and changed his mind. The intention was clear, she said: “He wanted to kill men, to get women to mourn, to cry and narrate mean suffering.”

She heard other attackers joining the men tell the tourists: "Tell your government. Tell Modi what we did." The tourists ran for life.

Authorities in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government have little details about the attack in Kashmir last week, with gunmen killing 26 people, most of whom are local Hindu tourists. It was one of the deadliest attacks in years against claimed civilians by India and Pakistan.

The Associated Press spoke with survivors about the first witness narratives of the killings claimed by some previously unknown militant groups, claiming to be Kashmir resistance. India accused Pakistan of supporting the Holocaust. Pakistan denies it. Both warn of imminent military operations.

Most of the dead were Indians attracted to Kashmir, and its beauty was often captured in Bollywood movies. In 2019, India revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status and the government said it would help stimulate development in Kashmir and integrate it more fully. Since then, violence has dropped to a large extent.

Survivors say the horror of the attack is unshakable. They also questioned how authorities could make it happen in one of the militarized places on Earth, where Indian soldiers are almost everywhere.

"It's a big security mistake," Sunil Swami said. He said that the government should invite tourists to Kashmir only when providing "society safety": "Give it in writing and guarantee it."

Swami tells what his daughter told him on her honeymoon. Swami said the man in a disguised uniform shot and killed people after confirming his religion.

"After realizing that they were Hindus, they shot down three bullets and stuffed them into my son's neck, chest and thighs," he said.

Mumbai-based teacher Rajashree Akul said three men from the family of her sister Anushka Mone were killed. She said two uniformed gunmen asked tourists to identify themselves as Hindus or Muslims.

"My brother-in-law begged them to 'let us go,' said 'We are innocent tourists.' They did not listen to him and shot him to death,'" Akur said.

The loved ones are now struggling with sorrow and regret.

Tage Mali, released for Indian Army in Kashmir, cannot save his younger brother Tage Hailyang, an air force official who was shot dead in front of his wife, Charu Kamhua.

Tage Mali said his brother's transfer order had arrived, so he invited his wife to see the beauty of Kashmir before they left.

The wife told Tage Mali that they heard the gunshots and the gunmen came to Tage Hailang and demanded his qualifications. Once he is established, they will shoot him.