Updated

Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir say two suspected rebels and a police officer have been killed in a gunbattle in the disputed Himalayan region.

Police officer Manoj Panditha says in addition to the dead, one Indian army soldier was wounded in the fighting late Monday in the southern Kashmir village of Dodhiporao.

Panditha said Tuesday that police believe men belonged to the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. There has been no independent confirmation of the incident.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. About 68,000 people have been killed since 1989 in an armed rebellion against Indian rule and in an ensuing Indian crackdown that has largely crushed the militants.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the rebels, a charge Islamabad denies.