SRINAGAR, Dec 25: Police in Indian-held Kashmir say two suspected militants and a police officer have been killed in a gunbattle in the disputed region.

Police officer Manoj Panditha says one Indian army soldier was wounded in the fighting on Monday night in the southern village of Dodhiporao.

Panditha said on Tuesday that police believed the slain men belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba. There has been no independent confirmation of the incident.

In Indian-occupied Kashmir at least 68,000 people have been killed since 1989 in an armed rebellion against Indian rule and in an ensuing Indian crackdown.—AP