One Brigadier and seven jawans were killed, and 12 injured when three militants in army uniforms attacked an army camp in Tanda, about 40km north of Jammu on the road to Poonch, early on Tuesday morning.
The militants alighted from a vehicle and began firing at security guards at the 610 EME Camp around 0530 IST, official sources said.
They reportedly managed to enter deep inside the camp hurling grenades and opening indiscriminate fire.
Quick Reaction Teams of the army immediately engaged two militants in an encounter and gunned them down.
Later in the afternoon, when top army officials paid a visit to the camp, a third militant, who was hiding in the forest nearby, opened fire.
Police sources said the militant killed a Brigadier of the 16 Corps and injured other top officers, including Northern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lieutenant General Hari Prasad.
Meanwhile, army sources in Delhi said Defence Minister George Fernandes would visit the camp on Wednesday in the wake of the militant attack. He will visit the EME Hospital in Akhnoor where the injured are being treated.
The attack came less than 12 hours after a militant attack in Banganga near Katra in which six devotees were killed. The site is on the way to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
The seriously injured pilgrims are undergoing treatment in the SMGS Hospital in Jammu while others are being treated in Katra Hospital.
With inputs from PTI