Soldiers killed in Kashmir attack

At least two Indian soldiers have been killed and eight others injured in an attack by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Police say the soldiers were part of an Indian Border Security Force patrol attacked in Rajouri district.

In a separate incident, Indian forces say they killed three suspected militants in a town south of Srinagar.

Next week, a landmark bus service is to be launched between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

The bus will link Srinagar, summer capital of the Indian sector, with the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad.

Cordoned off

It is not clear who carried out the Rajouri attack, which took place in a village deep in a forest.

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Kashmir dispute

"The Border Security Force personnel were attacked when they were on foot patrol in the tiny mountainous village," a police spokesman told the AFP agency.

In the second incident, Indian troops say a gun battle broke out after they cordoned off Lokutpora village, near Bijbehara, south of Srinagar.

Militant separatists have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir - which both Pakistan and India claim - since 1989.

About 40,000 people have been killed, but peace moves began last year.

Violence eased in the restive state after India and Pakistan embarked on the peace process.

Both countries claim the Himalayan state which has led to two wars between the nuclear-armed rivals.