SRINAGAR — Two policemen were killed and 14 injured after suspected militants attacked a bus carrying security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, BBC reported quoting police officials.

Officials said three militants fired indiscriminately on the vehicle near a police camp in Srinagar city.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, and has sought details on Monday evening's terror attack.

The area has been cordoned off, and a search operation is underway.

Officials say the attack happened when the policemen were returning to their campus after work. The suspected militants managed to escape under cover of darkness as security forces retaliated.

"Among the injured personnel, ASI [Assistant Sub-Inspector] Ghulam Hassan and SgCT [Constable] Safique Ali succumbed to their injuries and attained martyrdom, whereas the condition of other injured personnel is stated to be stable," a police statement said. The injured policemen have been evacuated to hospital.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti offered her condolences to the families of those killed in the attack. She tweeted: "[The government of India's] false narrative of normalcy in Kashmir stands exposed yet there has been no course correction."

Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Kashmir, tweeted his condolences too.

Kashmir's Inspector General of police, Vijay Kumar, said that "credible sources revealed that the attack was carried by Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

"One of the terrorists got injured and the group involved in this gruesome terrorist attack will be soon brought to justice," he said.

JeM is a Pakistan-based group which has been designated a terror organisation by India and the United Nations, as well as the UK and US. It previously claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on 14 February 2019 in Kashmir in which at least 46 soldiers died. It was one of the deadliest attacks on Indian forces in the region for decades.

Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, but ruled in parts by the nuclear-armed neighbours. Relations between the two countries have always been tense, but reached a new low when Delhi revoked the region's special autonomy in 2019.