India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, two days after 26 men were killed in an attack on tourists by suspected militants in the Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

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's Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the gunmen behind a terrorist attack on tourists in the Kashmir region "will not be spared!"