SRINAGAR: Suspected rebels shot dead two paramilitary troopers in Kashmir in the third militant assault on government forces in a week in the restive Himalayan region, police said.

Gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying Border Security Force (BSF) troops near a military airport just south of Srinagar.

“Two BSF personnel got martyred (killed) and two were injured in the attack,” police inspector general Abdul Gani Mir said, adding the gunmen fled immediately afterwards.

The assault marked the third attack by suspected militants on government forces in a week.

The first occurred last Monday, on the eve of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ladakh in the north of the disputed territory which is also claimed by Pakistan.

Gunmen raked a paramilitary vehicle with fire, seriously injuring seven paramilitary border guards.

On Wednesday, the day after Modi’s visit during which he addressed Indian troops stationed in the heavily militarised region, gunmen killed two Indian police officers and a civilian.

Since 1989, fighting between Indian forces and about a dozen rebel groups seeking independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

Modi, in his speech in Ladakh accused Pakistan of “waging a proxy war of terrorism” by dispatching militants to fight against India. Pakistan regularly denies such allegations.