Soldiers die in Kashmir attack

The army is hunting down the militants

Four Indian soldiers have been killed and at least three injured in an attack by separatist guerrillas on an army camp in Kashmir, police have said.

The attack took place at 0530 (0000 GMT) on Saturday in the border area of Nowgam, located 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the disputed state's capital Srinagar.

According to reports, the militants fired at the guards on duty at the camp gates and hurled grenades at them.

"The militants attacked the camp early in the morning," a senior police official told Reuters news agency.

The area is close to the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The army has cordoned off the area and is conducting search operations in the surrounding forest.

Night of violence

For more than a decade, Islamic militant groups have been fighting the authorities in Kashmir - the only Muslim-majority state in mainly Hindu India.

They want independence or to unite the region with neighbouring Pakistan.

As they (army solders) closed in on a house where the three militants had taken refuge, the besieged militants opened fire Police spokesman Q&A: Kashmir dispute

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the guerrillas, a charge Islamabad denies.

Overnight, Indian security forces shot dead 10 suspected Islamic militants in three separate incidents, police said.

In one, Indian troops circled a village after receiving a tip-off about the presence of three rebels in the Sumbhal area of the northern Baramulla district.

"As they (army solders) closed in on a house where the three militants had taken refuge, the besieged militants opened fire," the spokesman said, adding that troops returned the fire and killed all three rebels.

Four alleged militants were killed in the Tangdar area of the Baramulla district while trying to cross into India-administered Kashmir from the Pakistan-administered zone, he said.

Another three suspected separatists were killed and three Indian soldiers were injured in the Kalaroos area of the Kupwara district, he said.