SRINAGAR, India: Armed militants attacked an Indian army base near the Pakistan border early Tuesday, killing two soldiers, police said.

“Three to four militants entered the Army Corps headquarters at Nagrota and fired towards the officers’ mess. Two officers were killed and an exchange of fire is on,” a senior police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Early morning an encounter took place and terrorists have entered one of our military areas. The situation is under control, as soon as the operation is over we will be able to give details," he told reporters.

"Terrorists are armed, they have weapons, and that is why firefight is taking place."

Nagrota is in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, which borders Pakistan and has seen repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing between Indian and Pakistani troops in recent weeks.

Earlier this year, militants killed 17 Indian army soldiers in the Uri sector area near the Line of Control (LoC) in disputed Kashmir.

The assault, in which four commando-style gunmen burst into the brigade headquarters in Uri at 5:30 am (midnight GMT) on September 18, was among the deadliest in held Kashmir and has sharply ratcheted up tension between the nuclear-armed rivals. -AFP