Soldiers in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir have killed three suspected gunmen, the latest incident in an uptick of attacks in the disputed northern territory.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.

The Indian army's Chinar Corps said late Sunday that three people were killed in an "operation" in Occupied Kashmir's Kupwara district, with "weapons and other war-like stores" seized.

India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full and have fought three wars for control of the Himalayan region.

Mujahideen groups have waged a freedom struggle since 1989, demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and freedom-fighters.

Earlier this month, gunmen ambushed an Indian army convoy killing five soldiers, and two other soldiers.

In June, nine Indian Hindu pilgrims were killed and dozens wounded when a gunman opened fire on a bus carrying them from a shrine in the southern Reasi area.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in years and the first on Hindu pilgrims in Held Kashmir since 2017, when gunmen killed seven people in another ambush on a bus.