UPDATE - Militants storm Indian paramilitary camp in Kashmir

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu Kashmir (AA) - Four Indian soldiers and two militants were killed on Sunday as militants stormed a paramilitary camp in disputed Kashmir.

According to Indian officials, two militants entered the 185 battalion paramilitary camp in the southern Pulwama district in the wee hours of Sunday.

"The militants were heavily armed and the gun battle continued till afternoon," Rajesh Yadav, spokesperson of Indian Central Reserve Police Force in Kashmir, told Anadolu Agency.

Top Indian officials in disputed Kashmir including the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti offered condolences to the families of the dead Indian soldiers.

The militant outfit, Jaish e Muhammad, while speaking to a local news agency GNS, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Lethpora camp, which came under attack, serves as one of the training centers for paramilitary troops recruited for anti-militancy operations in the disputed region.

In a separate incident on the Nowshera border sector in Rajouri district, Indian officials said that a soldier of the Indian army was killed in cross- border firing on Sunday morning.

The cross-border firing between India and Pakistan along the Kashmir border saw a spike over the last week. At least four Indian and three Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border firing over the past week.

Today's killing of the Indian soldier comes a day after the Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat visited the border posts in Rajouri on Saturday asking the soldiers to “remain vigilant and ever ready”.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

The two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.

Also in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.