Indian soldier killed, 7 wounded in Kashmir attack

SRINAGAR, India, March 26 (Reuters) - An Indian soldier was killed and seven wounded when Muslim guerrillas attacked an army convoy on Sunday on the outskirts of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, the army said.

A spokesman from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group called up newspaper offices in Srinagar, claiming responsibility for the attack which came two days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed a peace treaty with Pakistan.

"There was a heavy exchange of fire," army spokesman V.K. Batra told Reuters.

He said one of the attackers was also killed in the incident which took place near the saffron-growing area of Pampore.

Pakistan has welcomed Singh's offer of a "treaty of peace, security and friendship" to replace decades of hostility between the nuclear rivals. There has been no response from any of the militant groups fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir.

Violence has declined in the Himalayan region since India and Pakistan began a peace process more than two years ago, but gunbattles between security forces and soldiers still take place frequently.