SRINAGAR, Jammu & Kashmir, India, (AA): Two Indian soldiers were killed on Monday along the Line of Control (LoC) in the northern part of the disputed Kashmir region, with New Delhi accusing Pakistan of violating the ceasefire between the two rivals.

The incident took place only one week before a scheduled visit to the region — slated for Nov. 7 — by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to statements issued by the Indian army, the two soldiers were killed on Monday afternoon when Pakistani troops fired on Indian outposts located in the northern Gurez sector close to the LoC.

“Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing in the Gurez sector along the LoC. Two soldiers have been killed in the firing,” defense spokesman Lt.-Col. N. N. Joshi said.

According to a senior army officer, the Indian side responded accordingly.

“Pakistani soldiers attacked our posts with light- and medium-caliber weapons,” the officer told Anadolu Agency. “We retaliated heavily.”

Gareeb Das, head of the Indian police in the northern region, told Anadolu Agency that the two slain soldiers belonged to India’s Territorial Army.

“We lost two men in the ceasefire volition,” he said.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

Since the partition of India in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars (in 1948, 1965 and 1971), two of which were fought over Kashmir, one part of which is also held by China.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Indian-held Kashmir have fought Indian rule to demand independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 Kashmiris have been killed so far in the violence, most of them by Indian forces.

India currently maintains over half-million soldiers in Indian-held Kashmir.