MILITANTS dressed in Indian army uniforms have attacked Indian police and soldiers near the border with Pakistan, killing nine people and triggering calls for talks between the prime ministers of the rival nations to be called off.

Just a day before the twin assault in the disputed Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would meet his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this weekend.

The leaders of the nuclear-armed neighbours are expected to discuss rising violence in Kashmir.

Indian Kashmir's chief minister Omar Abdullah said yesterday's assault was an attempt to derail the talks.

A group of three gunmen attacked a police station in the morning, about six miles from the border with Pakistan, killing five policemen. They then hijacked a truck and raided an army camp, security forces said. One civilian was killed.

The militants killed three soldiers during hours of fighting at the camp, near the town of Samba.

While helicopters hovered overhead, there were sporadic explosions and gunfire as Indian forces closed in on, and eventually killed, the gunmen.