Kashmiri nationalists launched a human bomb attack on a security camp in Indian-ruled Kashmir on Friday, killing two Indian soldiers and a civilian, a security official said. At least three fighters stormed a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Bandipur, 35 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, a BSF spokesman said.

"They started firing randomly and we retaliated. Two of the three fighters were killed and the third managed to escape," he told Reuters.

One of the two dead fighters strapped explosives to his body and blew himself up, killing a civilian near the gate of the security camp, the spokesman said.

Three BSF paramilitaries were injured in the attack, he said.

A lesser-known resistance group, Al-Madina Regiment, called newspaper offices in Srinagar and claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier on Friday, an Indian army officer and an Indian soldier were killed and three others critically wounded when suspected nationalist Kashmiri fighters ambushed an Indian army patrol in the neighboring village of Sumblar, police said.

And six people, including a senior activist of Kashmir's ruling People's Democratic Party, were killed in overnight gun battles across the region, they added.

India and Pakistan have toned down their rhetoric over Kashmir since Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last week urged talks with Pakistan to end 13 years of bloodshed in the disputed Himalayan region.

India says more than 38,000 people have died in the revolt against New Delhi's rule in the disputed Kashmir Province.

Kashmiri nationalist fighters put the toll closer to 85,000.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of arming and training the resistance and sending them across a cease-fire line to foment violence in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

Pakistan denies the charges but says it provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri freedom struggle.

PHOTO CAPTION

Executive members of All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC), an umbrella organization of 23 Kashmiri religious and political groups, Mohammed Yasin Malik, left, speaks as Umar Farooq, right, looks on during a news conference at the APHC headquarters in Srinagar, India, Thursday April 24, 2003. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)