SRINAGAR: Suspected Kashmiri rebels on Thursday shot and killed one Indian policeman and wounded two army soldiers and one civilian in a fierce gunbattle in the Himalayan territory, officials said.

The fighting started after government forces intercepted two suspected militants taking shelter in Kunzar, a village in India-held Kashmir, said top police officer K. Rajendran.

Government forces cordoned off the area and an exchange of gunfire was continuing with attackers holed up in two village homes, 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of Srinagar, said Col. N.N. Joshi, a Defense Ministry spokesman.

Kashmir has been in a state of conflict for decades, with a violent insurgency erupting in 1989 and leading to a brutal crackdown by Indian forces. An estimated 68,000 people have died in the violence.

Although the armed rebellion has been largely suppressed, public resentment against Indian rule remains deep and the resistance is now principally expressed through street protests.