Eight Indian army soldiers were killed Friday in a gunfight with militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir ahead of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi . In a predawn attack , heavily armed militants stormed an Indian army camp 85 kilometers ( about 52 miles ) from Srinagar in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir . The militants opened fire at the camp near the Line of Control , the defacto border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir . `` Eight army troopers including an officer and three cops were killed in the gunfight , which has now ended , '' an Indian defense spokesman said in a statement . `` In the ensuing firefight , all the six foreign terrorists were eliminated . '' The gunfight came two days ahead of Modi 's visit to Indian Kashmir to campaign for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party , or BJP , which is making its presence felt in the Muslim-majority Kashmir for the first time . Modi 's BJP has fielded candidates for the ongoing state assembly polls . Attacks on the army camps by militants have been occurring in Indian-administered Kashmir , which has been in the throes of separatist violence since 1989 . Last week , militants attacked another army camp in the Arnia sector of the border near the main city of Jammu . The nearly 24-hour-long gunfight claimed 12 lives .
Militants storm Indian army camp in Indian-controlled Kashmir . Firefight comes two days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's visit . Modi 's Hindu nationalist party is fielding candidates in the Muslim-majority Kashmir . Another militant attack last week claimed 12 lives .