Four Indian soldiers killed in militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir

By Fayaz Bukhari

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - A militant attack on an Indian Army patrol in Jammu and Kashmir killed four soldiers, including an officer, the army said on Tuesday, the latest incident of violence in the Hindu-dominated part of the troubled Himalayan region.

The deaths take to 11 this year's tally of Indian soldiers killed in such attacks, as the epicentre of militant activity has shifted in recent years to the Jammu region from the Kashmir Valley, authorities have said.

A firefight broke out after militants ambushed the foot patrol in the woods of Doda district late on Monday, army officials said.

In a statement, the army said it had moved additional troops into the area, as the operation continues.

India and Pakistan both claim the Himalayan region of Kashmir but rule it in part. India blames Pakistan for training, funding and pushing militants into its part of Kashmir from across a ceasefire line, a charge Pakistan denies.

The spate of militant attacks aims to return the violence to a level that prevailed in the decade from 1995, the region's chief of police, R.R. Swain, told reporters.

"They have found a gap for sure," he said on Monday, referring to the infiltration of militants into the region. "We will deal with it."

Past militant attacks in the Indian-administered region had focused mostly on Muslim-dominated Kashmir.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh offered condolences to the relatives of the dead in Monday's attack.

Similar attacks in the Jammu region have killed 43 soldiers in the last three years.

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)