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.

It was the deadliest attack against civilians in years in Kashmir, a region claimed by both India and Pakistan that has been racked by violence for decades.

Militants who killed 26 people in India's Kashmir region separated the men from the women and children and asked the men their names before shooting them at close range, security officials and survivors said on Wednesday.