Suspected militants kill two police in Indian Kashmir: Official

SRINAGAR: Two Indian policemen were shot dead Saturday by suspected militants in a high security area of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, police said.

The policemen were shot from point blank range when they were on a regular patrol near the main court complex located in a busy commercial district of Srinagar, a senior police official said.

"Both the policemen died at the spot. We don't know as yet who carried out the attack," city police chief Ashiq Bukhari told AFP.

The attack comes at a time when security is being stepped up in the region ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early next week.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan along the UN-monitored Line of Control (LoC), but both countries claim the region in full and have fought two of their three wars over it.