SRINAGAR: An Indian army colonel was killed on Tuesday by suspected separatists who opened fire on Indian forces in a heavily forested area of Indian-held Kashmir, an Indian military official claimed.

The skirmish flared in the northern Kupwara region of Kashmir where the militants have been hiding since last week, alleged Indian army Colonel Nitin Joshi.

Joshi said two Indian army soldiers were also wounded earlier in the fighting with the separatists in the same region over the weekend.

Clashes are continuing in the area, nearly 70 kilometers north of Srinagar, the main city of the Indian-held Kashmir.

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Separatists groups have been fighting Indian forces in Indian-held Kashmir since 1989 for the region's independence or incorporation with Pakistan, in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the fighting and the ensuing crackdown by Indian forces.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which both countries claim.

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